New research challenges the long-standing idea that most fixed genetic mutations are neutral. For many years, scientists studying evolution have believed that most genetic changes influencing how ...

1. The neutral theory of biodiversity provides a simple yet elegant explanation of species diversity patterns. By specifying speciation rates, dispersal and community size, and assuming that all ...

The neutral theory of molecular evolution proposed by Motoo Kimura has dominated the landscape of evolutionary theory for half a century, but it continues to face challenges. Duong Thuy Nguyen /Quanta ...

If you had braved the jungles of China’s Fujian province in the early 20th century, various accounts say, you might have witnessed a stunningly unexpected animal: a blue tiger. These tigers were ...

For a long time, evolutionary biologists have thought that the genetic mutations that drive the evolution of genes and proteins are largely neutral: they're neither good nor bad, but just ordinary ...

1. Studies seeking to explain local patterns of diversity have typically relied on niche explanations, reflected in correlations with local environmental conditions, or neutral theory, invoking ...

In 2011, the ecologist Ryan Chisholm was looking at tree census data from 12 different forests around the world. More than 4,000 species of trees grew in these places, their numbers rising and falling ...

A disarmingly simple model of ecology does everything well — except for predicting how rapidly nature can change. Can it become more realistic while still avoiding biology’s messy complexities? In ...