ArticleGenome research2020
Noncoding regions underpin avian bill shape diversification at macroevolutionary scales.
Article in Genome research, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed, 41 citations in OpenAlex.
- Fit for purpose? Analysis of the relationship between skull, beak shape and feeding ecology in Psittaciformes.Journal of anatomy · 2026Article
- Evolutionary genomic basis of mimicry diversity of Epicopeiidae moths.Molecular biology and evolution · 2026Article
- Genetic, phenotypic, and environmental drivers of local adaptation and climate change-induced maladaptation in a migratory songbird.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- The CpG Landscape of Protein Coding DNA in Vertebrates.Evolutionary applications · 2025Article
- Article
- The Relative Roles of Selection and Drift in the Chaffinch Radiation (Aves:Ecology and evolution · 2025Article
- Transposable elements shape the landscape of heterozygous structural variation in a bird genome.Zoological research · 2025Article
- Practical Guidance and Workflows for Identifying Fast Evolving Non-Coding Genomic Elements Using PhyloAcc.Integrative and comparative biology · 2024Article
- Cellular, Molecular, and Genetic Mechanisms of Avian Beak Development and Evolution.Annual review of genetics · 2024Review
- A phylogenetic method linking nucleotide substitution rates to rates of continuous trait evolution.PLoS computational biology · 2024Article
- Genomic signatures of convergent shifts to plunge-diving behavior in birds.Communications biology · 2023Article
- Genomic Signatures Associated with Transitions to Viviparity in Cyprinodontiformes.Molecular biology and evolution · 2023Article
- Molecular mechanisms of adaptive evolution in wild animals and plants.Science China. Life sciences · 2023Review
- C-value paradox: Genesis in misconception that natural selection follows anthropocentric parameters of 'economy' and 'optimum'.BBA advances · 2023Article
- The Genomic Landscapes of Desert Birds Form over Multiple Time Scales.Molecular biology and evolution · 2022Article
- Genomic signatures of the evolution of a diurnal lifestyle in Strigiformes.G3 (Bethesda, Md.) · 2022Article
- Comparative Genomics and Evolution of Avian Specialized Traits.Current genomics · 2021Review
- Complex genetic architecture of three-dimensional craniofacial shape variation in domestic pigeons.Evolution & development · 2021Article
- Genome Size Reduction and Transposon Activity Impact tRNA Gene Diversity While Ensuring Translational Stability in Birds.Genome biology and evolution · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 6 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Recent progress has been made in identifying genomic regions implicated in trait evolution on a microevolutionary scale in many species, but whether these are relevant over macroevolutionary time remains unclear. Here, we directly address this fundamental question using bird beak shape, a key evolutionary innovation linked to patterns of resource use, divergence, and speciation, as a model trait. We integrate class-wide geometric-morphometric analyses with evolutionary sequence analyses of 10,322 protein-coding genes as well as 229,001 genomic regions spanning 72 species. We identify 1434 protein-coding genes and 39,806 noncoding regions for which molecular rates were significantly related to rates of bill shape evolution. We show that homologs of the identified protein-coding genes as well as genes in close proximity to the identified noncoding regions are involved in craniofacial embryo development in mammals. They are associated with embryonic stem cell pathways, including BMP and Wnt signaling, both of which have repeatedly been implicated in the morphological development of avian beaks. This suggests that identifying genotype-phenotype association on a genome-wide scale over macroevolutionary time is feasible. Although the coding and noncoding gene sets are associated with similar pathways, the actual genes are highly distinct, with significantly reduced overlap between them and bill-related phenotype associations specific to noncoding loci. Evidence for signatures of recent diversifying selection on our identified noncoding loci in Darwin finch populations further suggests that regulatory rather than coding changes are major drivers of morphological diversification over macroevolutionary times.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.