This Review discusses recent advances in the molecular evolution of vertebrate organs, including rates of evolution of organs and cell types, molecular mechanisms of organ evolution and how complex traits contributed to the diversification of vertebrates.

Recent expanded Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) listings for sharks and rays are welcome — yet seizing this opportunity requires that international trade policy is treated not as an end point, but as a catalyst for wider regulatory and market-based reforms.

Baum et al. present a synthesis of field data, remote-sensed data, media reports and process-based modelling analyses examining the effects of the 2021 heatwave in western North America for 32 terrestrial and marine taxa as well as gross primary productivity, streamflow and wildfire activity.

A juvenile iguanodontian from the Lower Cretaceous of China preserves both spikes and scales in its skin that are different from integumentary structures in either non-avian dinosaurs or extant squamates and may have had a defensive function.

An analysis of the responses of 15 diverse human gut bacteria in more than 100 pairwise co-cultures reveals extensive remodelling of the bacterial proteome and metabolome in response to the presence of other species.

A dated phylogeny of 16,585 vascular plant species native to China reveals three major centres of endemism, including a potential new global biodiversity hotspot.

Phylogenomic analyses of newly sequenced and published decapodiform cephalopods separate open-ocean and coastal shallow-water clades, following rapid cladogenesis from the mid-Cretaceous.

The spread of non-native species is likely to be compounded by further climate change and land-use intensification. Here the authors assess the potential distribution of 9,701 naturalized non-native plant species at a 10 × 10-km grid resolution and project shifts under two Shared Socioeconomic Pathways.

Chromatin plays a central role in gene regulation, but chromatin systems are only known for a few model species. This study analyses chromatin regulatory landscapes in brown algal lineages to elucidate the structural organization and evolution of chromatin in these multicellular eukaryotes.

This analysis of coral reef fish community structure reveals major differences in the energetic potential of planktivorous assemblages between Indo-Pacific and Caribbean coral reefs. Indo-Pacific reefs support greater planktivorous fish biomass and productivity, largely due to the contribution of species that feed on gelatinous plankton.

Lawyer who was instrumental in securing protection for the high seas and the deep ocean.

In this Focus issue, we highlight research and opinion pieces on the many conceptual and practical contributions of evolutionary biology to predicting and controlling disease.