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Updated: Mar 20, 2026

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Published on: February 3, 2023
Losing Complexity: The Role of Simplification in Macroevolution
Maureen A O'Malley1, Jeremy G Wideman2, Iñaki Ruiz-Trillo3
1UMR5164, University of Bordeaux, 146 Rue Léo Saignat, Bordeaux 33076, France.
Abstract:
Macroevolutionary patterns can be produced by combinations of diverse and even oppositional dynamics. A growing body of data indicates that secondary simplifications of molecular and cellular structures are common. Some major diversifications in eukaryotes have occurred because of loss and minimalisation; numerous episodes in prokaryote evolution have likewise been driven by the reduction of structure. After examining a range of examples of secondary simplification and its consequences across the tree of life, we address how macroevolutionary explanations might incorporate simplification as well as complexification, and adaptive as well as nonadaptive dynamics.
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