Inference of evolutionary jumps in large phylogenies using Lévy processes

Although it is now widely accepted that the rate of phenotypic evolution may not necessarily be constant across large phylogenies, the frequency and phylogenetic position of periods of rapid evolution remain unclear. In his highly influential view of evolution, G. G. Simpson supposed that such evolutionary jumps occur when organisms transition into so-called new adaptive zones, for instance after dispersal into a new geographic area, after rapid climatic changes, or following the appearance of an evolutionary novelty. Only recently, large, accurate and well calibrated phylogenies have become available that allow testing this hypothesis directly, yet inferring evolutionary jumps remains computationally very challenging. Here, we develop a computationally highly efficient algorithm to accurately infer the rate and strength of evolutionary jumps as well as their phylogenetic location. Following previous work we model evolutionary jumps as a compound process, but introduce a novel approach to sample jump configurations that does not require matrix inversions and thus naturally scales to large trees. We then make use of this development to infer evolutionary jumps in Anolis lizards and Loriinii parrots where we find strong signal for such jumps at the basis of clades that transitioned into new adaptive zones, just as postulated by Simpson’s hypothesis

Dealing with fragments of past biospheres

Planet Earth has been continuously habitable for over 3000 million years. For much of that time the fossil record is sporadic, but a step-change becomes evident from about 575 million years ago (Yang et al. 2021), with the beginning of a widespread record of complex marine macroscopic life. Over the past five decades analysis of this fossil record has outlinedclear intervals of major biotic change and understanding these is important for identifying the parameters of habitability on our planet, and for trying to understand the degree of impact caused by humans on the biosphere in the Anthropocene (Williams et al. 2022).</p

Planetary-scale change to the biosphere signalled by global species translocations can be used to identify the Anthropocene

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Dealing with fragments of past biospheres

Planet Earth has been continuously habitable for over 3000 million years. For much of that time the fossil record is sporadic, but a step-change becomes evident from about 575 million years ago (Yang et al. 2021), with the beginning of a widespread record of complex marine macroscopic life. Over the past five decades analysis of this fossil record has outlinedclear intervals of major biotic change and understanding these is important for identifying the parameters of habitability on our planet, and for trying to understand the degree of impact caused by humans on the biosphere in the Anthropocene (Williams et al. 2022).</p

Convenient Preparation of Lanthanide Aryloxides from Lanthanide Nitrate Polyether Complexes and the Crystal Structure of [La(OC₆H₃Me₂-2,6)₃(MeO(CH₂CH₂O)₄Me)]

Convenient Preparation of Lanthanide Aryloxides from Lanthanide Nitrate Polyether Complexes and the Crystal Structure of [La(OC6H3Me2-2,6)3(MeO(CH2CH2O)4Me)

WES_841552_Online_Appendix – Supplemental material for The Rise in Pay for Performance Among Higher Managerial and Professional Occupations in Britain: Eroding or Enhancing the Service Relationship?

Supplemental material, WES_841552_Online_Appendix for The Rise in Pay for Performance Among Higher Managerial and Professional Occupations in Britain: Eroding or Enhancing the Service Relationship? by Mark Williams, Ying Zhou and Min Zou in Work, Employment and Society</p

sj-pdf-1-eid-10.1177_0143831X221128345 – Supplemental material for In search of the ‘buffering’ effect in the job demands–control model: The role of teamwork HRM practices and occupations

Supplemental material, sj-pdf-1-eid-10.1177_0143831X221128345 for In search of the ‘buffering’ effect in the job demands–control model: The role of teamwork HRM practices and occupations by Min Zou, Ying Zhou and Mark Williams in Economic and Industrial Democracy</p

Files to accompany "Examining the role of red background in magnocellular contribution to face perception"

<p>Published in PeerJ</p

Human bioturbation, and the subterranean landscape of the Anthropocene

Bioturbation by humans ('anthroturbation'), comprising phenomena ranging from surface landscaping to boreholes that penetrate deep into the crust, is a phenomenon without precedent in Earth history, being orders of magnitude greater in scale than any preceding non-human type of bioturbation. These human phenomena range from simple individual structures to complex networks that range to several kilometres depth (compared with animal burrows that range from centimetres to a few metres in depth), while the extraction of material from underground can lead to topographic subsidence or collapse, with concomitant modification of the landscape. Geological transformations include selective removal of solid matter (e.g. solid hydrocarbons, metal ores), fluids (natural gas, liquid hydrocarbons, water), local replacement by other substances (solid waste, drilling mud), associated geochemical and mineralogical changes to redox conditions with perturbation of the water table and pH conditions and local shock-metamorphic envelopes with melt cores (in the case of underground nuclear tests). These transformations started in early/mid Holocene times, with the beginning of mining for flint and metals, but show notable inflections associated with the Industrial Revolution (ca 1800 CE) and with the 'Great Acceleration' at ∼1950 CE, the latter date being associated with the large-scale extension of this phenomenon from sub-land surface to sub-sea floor settings. Geometrically, these phenomena cross-cut earlier stratigraphy. Geologically, they can be regarded as a subsurface expression of the surface chronostratigraphic record of the Anthropocene. These subsurface phenomena have very considerable potential for long-term preservation

The systematic relationship of the monograptid species acinaces Tornquist, 1899 and rheidolensis Jones, 1909

The relationship between the early Silurian (Rhuddanian) monograptid species rheidolensis Jones, 1909 and acinaces Törnquist, 1899 has been contentious, with debate as regards both their possible synonymy and their generic assignation. We have re-examined the type and associated material of rheidolensis, and conclude that this taxon is almost certainly a junior synonym of acinaces. Lacking ventral apertural processes, acinaces does not belong within Lagarograptus, as previously thought, but may be placed within Huttagraptus, as proposed by Koren’ & Bjerreskov (1997). The confusion between these two taxa arose because the material that Jones assigned to rheidolensis includes two taxa, one representing non-topotype (and probably mis-localized) specimens of an undoubted Neolagarograptus. This is morphologically very similar to, and probably referable to, the late Aeronian species Neolagarograptus tenuis, the type material of which we show here to be tectonically distorted