Horseshoe crabs (Xiphosura) are traditionally regarded as sister group to the clade of
terrestrial chelicerates (Arachnida). This hypothesis has been challenged by recent …

Sexual reproduction is pervasive in animals and has led to the evolution of sexual
dimorphism. In most animals, males and females show marked differences in primary and …

Social arthropods such as termites, ants, and bees are among others the most successful
animal groups on earth. However, social arthropods face an elevated risk of infections due …

Understanding the role of genetic and nongenetic variants in modulating phenotypes is
central to our knowledge of adaptive responses to local conditions and environmental …

Variation in DNA methylation patterns among genes, individuals, and populations appears
to be highly variable among taxa, but our understanding of the functional significance of this …

Social spiders have remarkably low species-wide genetic diversities, potentially increasing
the relative importance of microbial symbionts for host fitness. Here we explore the bacterial …

Social spiders of the species Stegodyphus dumicola live in communal nests with hundreds
of individuals and are characterized by extremely low species-wide genetic diversity. The …

An overlooked source of variation in evolvability resides in the social lives of animals. In
trying to foster research in this direction, we offer a critical review of previous work on the link …

Host–symbiont interactions may form obligatory or facultative associations that are context
dependent. Long-term studies on microbiome composition from wild populations should …

Eusociality is a highly conspicuous and ecologically impactful behavioral syndrome that has
evolved independently across multiple animal lineages. So far, comparative genomic …