The evolution of sex determination remains one of the most fascinating enigmas in biology. Transitions between genotypic sex determination (GSD) and temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD) have occurred multiple times during vertebrate evolution, however, the molecular basis and consequences of these transitions in closely related taxa remain unresolved. Here I address a critical question...

Characterizing the molecular network underlying temperature-dependent (TSD) and genotypic (GSD) sex determination, including patterns across closely related taxa, is crucial to elucidate the still enigmatic evolution of sex determining mechanisms in vertebrates. Here we examined the expression of an important gene for sexual differentiation common to both systems, Sf1, at male- and female-produ...

Phylogenetic relationships among species and subspecies of the Canary Island endemic lizard genus Gallotia are inferred based on nucleotide sequences of fragments of 12S ribosomal RNA and cytochrome b mitochondrial genes. The four morphologically established species have also been recognized at the molecular level. Relative affinities among species follow an eastern-western geographic transect....

The following seven species of southern African Salticidae, known only from type specimens or one sex, and last described in the early 20th century, are redescribed: Baryphas ahenus Simon, 1902, Brancus muticus Simon, 1902, Euophrys quadrispinosa Lawrence, 1927, Evarcha natalica Simon, 1902, Mogrus macrocephalus Lawrence, 1927, Thyene damarensis Lawrence, 1927 and Thyene bilineata Lawrence, 192...

Review of Miranda, M. de (ed.) (2018). Atlantica. Contemporary Art from Angola and its Diaspora . Lisbon: Hangar Books, 261 pp.

Production of extracellular polysaccharide by the marine bacterium Pseudomonas atlantica is a variable trait. Strains that produce extracellular polysaccharide (EPS(+)) have a mucoid colony phenotype, but during cultivation in the laboratory nonmucoid, EPS(-) variants arise that have a crenated colony morphology. This change is reversible since crenated variants rapidly switch to the original m...