Systematic Biology is the bimonthly journal of the Society of Systematic Biologists. Papers for the journal are original contributions to the theory, principles, and methods of systematics as well as phylogeny, evolution, morphology, biogeography, paleontology, genetics, and the classification of all living things. A Points of View section offers a forum for discussion, while book reviews and announcements of general interest are also featured.
Blue-blooded and armored with 10 spindly legs, horseshoe crabs have perhaps always seemed a bit out of place.
Evolution
Mar 9, 2019
4
13458
In evolutionary biology, there is a deeply rooted supposition that you can't go home again: Once an organism has evolved specialized traits, it can't return to the lifestyle of its ancestors.
Evolution
Mar 8, 2013
4
1
More than one hundred and fifty years ago, Charles Darwin hypothesized that species could cross oceans and other vast distances on vegetation rafts, icebergs, or in the case of plant seeds, in the plumage of birds.
Evolution
Oct 1, 2014
27
0
The unusual breeding history of the Earth's largest living lizard—the Komodo dragon—has been laid bare in a new study from The Australian National University.
Plants & Animals
Mar 2, 2021
2
457
QUT evolutionary biologist Dr Matthew Phillips used molecular dating from DNA sequences to challenge the dominant scientific theory that placental mammals diversified 20 million years before dinosaurs became extinct.
Evolution
Jul 5, 2016
0
20
The placoderms were a diverse group of ancient armoured fishes and it's widely believed that they are ancestral to virtually all vertebrates alive today, including humans.
Archaeology
Dec 6, 2016
0
40
The common goldfish, the tiny minnows, the fish tank favorite tetra, the famous Electric Eel, the enormous Mekong Giant Catfish that weighs in at nearly 700 pounds, the gnashing-teeth piranha, the well-studied zebrafish - ...
Plants & Animals
Nov 3, 2017
0
172
Some male butterflies go to extreme lengths to ensure their paternity—sealing their mate's genitalia with a waxy "chastity belt" to prevent future liaisons. But female butterflies can fight back by evolving larger or more ...
Plants & Animals
Sep 3, 2020
0
142
Rodents can tell us a lot about the way species evolve after they move into new areas, according to a new and exceptionally broad study conducted in part by Florida State University biological science Professor Scott J. Steppan.
Evolution
Dec 12, 2013
1
0
Despite their reputation as living fossils, scorpions have remained evolutionarily nimble—especially in developing venom to fend off the rise of mammal predators. A new genetic analysis of scorpions' toxin-making reveals ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 28, 2022
0
180
