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Since Darwin's observations, it has been believed that complex characteristics evolve in several gradual steps. The ability of poison frogs to ingest and accumulate toxins, which makes them unpalatable to predators, appears to have evolved in a similar manner. This study reveals a clear gradation: species closely related to dendrobatid poison frogs accumulate ten times more toxins than their more distantly related relatives, but ten times less than poison frogs themselves. Furthermore, toxin accumulation and metabolism varies even among poison frog species, demonstrating that the evolution of these amphibians is as complex as their poisonous nature.

Read the article in Proceedings B:
https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2025.3144

Image credit: H. Zell, Wikimedia Commons

UCE phylogenomics improves the classification of the cosmopolitan pit-building antlion tribe Myrmeleontini (Neuroptera: Myrmeleontidae: Myrmeleontinae)

Systematic Entomology
🔒 https://resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/syen.70040

🐑 New study shows that grazing intensity restructures plant-microbial competition for N through form-specific pathways. Authors identified a critical tipping point at which heavy grazing shifts the competitive balance, favoring fungal dominated microbial communities for NH₄⁺ acquisition while plants retain dominance for NO₃⁻ 👉️ https://buff.ly/GWU27oL