Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

The Evidence for Evolution02:55

The Evidence for Evolution

48.5K
Genetic variations accumulating within populations over generations give rise to biological evolution. Evolutionary changes can result in the formation of novel varieties and entire new species. These changes are responsible for the diverse forms of life inhabiting the planet. The evidence for evolution suggests that all living organisms descended from common ancestors.
48.5K
Speciation Rates01:07

Speciation Rates

23.0K
Overview
23.0K
What is Evolutionary History?02:35

What is Evolutionary History?

43.8K
Scientists record evolutionary history by analyzing fossil, morphological, and genetic data. The fossil record documents the history of life on Earth and provides evidence for evolution. However, both fossil and living organisms offer evidence that outlines Earth’s evolutionary history.
43.8K
Convergent Evolution01:54

Convergent Evolution

33.2K
Evolution shapes the features of organisms over time, ensuring that they are suited for the environments in which they live. Sometimes, selection pressure leads to the rise of similar but unrelated adaptations in organisms with no recent common ancestors, a process known as convergent evolution.
33.2K
Genome Size and the Evolution of New Genes03:21

Genome Size and the Evolution of New Genes

3.5K
3.5K
Genome Size and the Evolution of New Genes03:21

Genome Size and the Evolution of New Genes

9.3K
While every living organism has a genome of some kind (be it RNA, or DNA), there is considerable variation in the sizes of these blueprints. One major factor that impacts genome size is whether the organism is prokaryotic or eukaryotic. In prokaryotes, the genome contains little to no non-coding sequence, such that genes are tightly clustered in groups or operons sequentially along the chromosome. Conversely, the genes in eukaryotes are punctuated by long stretches of non-coding sequence.
9.3K

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Inferring epidemiological parameters under an infectious phylogeography model with visitor dynamics.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026
Same author

Summarizing Evolutionary Trajectories from Phylogenetic Character Maps of Discrete Traits.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026
Same author

An evolving view of phylogenetic biogeography.

Systematic biology·2026
Same author

Ancestral state reconstruction with discrete characters using deep learning.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026
Same author

A Phylogenetic Model of Established and Enabled Biome Shifts.

Systematic biology·2026
Same author

Phylogenetic estimation of diversity-dependent biogeographic rates using deep learning.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Feb 19, 2026

Microinjection for Transgenesis and Genome Editing in Threespine Sticklebacks
08:51

Microinjection for Transgenesis and Genome Editing in Threespine Sticklebacks

Published on: May 13, 2016

14.7K

Pulsed evolution shaped modern vertebrate body sizes.

Michael J Landis1, Joshua G Schraiber2,3

  • 1Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
|November 9, 2017
PubMed
Summary

Evolutionary change often occurs in pulses, not gradual increments. This study found pulsed evolutionary processes best explain phenotypic diversity in many vertebrate clades, reconciling fossil and modern data.

Keywords:
Levy processadaptive landscapemacroevolutionpulsed evolution

More Related Videos

Dissection and Flat-mounting of the Threespine Stickleback Branchial Skeleton
08:02

Dissection and Flat-mounting of the Threespine Stickleback Branchial Skeleton

Published on: May 7, 2016

10.4K
Experimental Manipulation of Body Size to Estimate Morphological Scaling Relationships in Drosophila
06:00

Experimental Manipulation of Body Size to Estimate Morphological Scaling Relationships in Drosophila

Published on: October 1, 2011

14.4K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Feb 19, 2026

Microinjection for Transgenesis and Genome Editing in Threespine Sticklebacks
08:51

Microinjection for Transgenesis and Genome Editing in Threespine Sticklebacks

Published on: May 13, 2016

14.7K
Dissection and Flat-mounting of the Threespine Stickleback Branchial Skeleton
08:02

Dissection and Flat-mounting of the Threespine Stickleback Branchial Skeleton

Published on: May 7, 2016

10.4K
Experimental Manipulation of Body Size to Estimate Morphological Scaling Relationships in Drosophila
06:00

Experimental Manipulation of Body Size to Estimate Morphological Scaling Relationships in Drosophila

Published on: October 1, 2011

14.4K

Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary biology
  • Paleontology
  • Quantitative biology

Background:

  • The debate on evolutionary modes (stasis vs. rapid change) is ongoing.
  • Fossil data suggest stasis, while modern data indicate rapid evolution.
  • Reconciling these observations may involve pulsed evolutionary models.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To test the hypothesis that evolution proceeds in pulses on geological timescales.
  • To develop a framework for fitting pulsed evolutionary models to morphological data.
  • To reconcile conflicting observations from fossil and modern evolutionary data.

Main Methods:

  • Developed a maximum-likelihood framework.
  • Applied Lévy processes, which include incremental and pulsed components.
  • Fitted models to comparative morphological data from vertebrate clades.

Main Results:

  • Pulsed evolutionary processes best fit a plurality of modern vertebrate clades.
  • Pulsed models outperformed models of incremental change, stationarity, and adaptive radiation.
  • Results align with theoretical expectations of fitness landscape dynamics.

Conclusions:

  • Pulsed evolution is a significant mode shaping phenotypic diversity.
  • This reconciles microevolutionary observations with macroevolutionary patterns in the fossil record.
  • The framework provides a quantitative approach to studying evolutionary tempo and mode.