For sexual selection to act on a given sex, there must exist variation in the reproductive
success of that sex as a result of differential access to mates or fertilisations. The …

Matrotrophy, the continuous extra‐vitelline supply of nutrients from the parent to the progeny
during gestation, is one of the masterpieces of nature, contributing to offspring fitness and …

The phylogenetic placement of the morphologically simple placozoans is crucial to
understanding the evolution of complex animal traits. Here, we examine the influence of …

Placozoans are a phylum of nonbilaterian marine animals currently represented by a single
described species, Trichoplax adhaerens, Schulze 1883. Placozoans arguably show the …

Epithelial tissues provide an important barrier function in animals, but these tissues are
subjected to extreme strains during day-to-day activities such as feeding and locomotion …

The rise of multicellularity represents a major evolutionary transition and it occurred
independently in multiple eukaryote clades. Although simple multicellular organisms may …

Oogenesis is a fundamental biological process observed in most animals. Animals employ
many different mechanisms to make their eggs and oogenesis cannot be completed without …

Placozoa is an enigmatic phylum of simple, microscopic, marine metazoans,. Although
intracellular bacteria have been found in all members of this phylum, almost nothing is …

The enigmatic animal phylum Placozoa holds a key position in the metazoan Tree of Life. A
simple bauplan makes it appear to be the most basal metazoan known and genetic …

Communication among cells was paramount to the evolutionary increase in cell type
diversity and, ultimately, the origin of large body size. Across the diversity of Metazoa, there …