The Vancouver Evolution Group (aka VEG) is a collection of researchers from Simon Fraser University and the University of British Columbia who meet to discuss topics in evolutionary biology. All are welcome: undergraduates, graduates, post doctoral fellows, faculty, family, and friends.

Next Meeting

When: Wednesday February 18th at 7pm, 2026
Where: Arne Mooers's House 7-1285 Harwood St. (enter through back alley)
Reading: Rossine et al. (2025) "Intracellular competition shapes plasmid population dynamics"
Bring: Something to snack on or drink, someone new to VEG.

VEG-inspired Publications

• Sargent RD (2004) Floral symmetry affects speciation rates in angiosperms. Proc R Soc Lond Ser B-Biol Sci 271: 603-608.
• Rundle HD, F Breden, C Griswold, AØ Mooers, RA Vos, and J Whitton (2001) Hybridization without Guilt: Gene Flow and the Biological Species Concept. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 14: 868-869.
• Otto SP and CD Jones (2000) Detecting the undetected: estimating the total number of loci underlying a quantitaive trait. Genetics 156: 2093-2107

General Information

Members can post messages to the group by sending e-mail to zoology-veg@lists.ubc.ca (warning: emails must be from the email registered on the listserv).
Non-members should forward their message to otto@zoology.ubc.ca and request that it be posted.

To join the VEG e-mail list:
Send e-mail to listserv@lists.ubc.ca from your own account with the phrase "subscribe zoology-veg" in the body (no quotation marks or anything else).

To remove yourself from this mailing list:
Send an e-mail to listserv@lists.ubc.ca from your account with the word "unsubscribe" on the subject line, without the quotation marks.

Previous Readings

• De Lisle and Svensson (2025) "Revisiting evolutionary rate-time relationships" (November 2025)
  
• Matheson et al. (2025) "Substitution load revisited: a high proportion of deaths can be selective" (October 2025)
  
• Frank (2025) "The economic impacts of ecosystem disruptions: Costs from substituting biological pest control" [Also, rebuttal and the rebuttal of the rebuttal] (September 2025)
• Rohwer et al. (2025) "Two decades of bacterial ecology and evolution in a freshwater lake" (July 2025)
  
• Langmore et al. (2024) "Coevolution with hosts underpins speciation in brood-parasitic cuckoos." (June 2025)
  
• Svensson (2023) "Phenotypic selection in natural populations: what have we learned in 40 years?" (November 2024)
  
• Hatton et al. (2024) "Diversity begets stability: Sublinear growth and competitive coexistence across ecosystems" (June 2024)
• Sohain et al. (2020) "MPL resolves genetic linkage in fitness inference from complex evolutionary histories" (July 2023)
• Bozdag et al. (2023) "De novo evolution of macroscopic multicellularity" (May 2023)
• Latrille et al. (2023) "Genes and sites under adaptation at the phylogenetic scale also exhibit adaptation at the population-genetic scale" (April 2023)
  
• Venkataram et al. (2022) "Mutualism-enhancing mutations dominate early adaptation in a two-species microbial community" (February 2023)
  
• Exposito-Alonso et al. (2022) "Genetic diversity loss in the anthropocene" (October 2022)
• de Manuel et al. (2022) "A paternal bias in germline mutation is widespread in amniotes and can arise independently of cell division numbers" (September 2022)
• Shen et al. (2022) "Synonymous mutations in representative yeast genes are mostly strongly non-neutral" (August 2022)
• Morrill et al. (2022) "Ancestry-inclusive dog genomics challenges popular breed stereotypes" (May 2022)
• Dhanasekaran et al. (2022) "Human seasonal influenza under COVID-19 and the potential consequences of influenza lineage elimination" (April 2022)
• Frei et al. (2022) "Genomic variation from an extinct species is retained in the extant radiation following speciation reversal" (March 2022)
• Papkou et al. (2021) "Population size impacts host-pathogen coevolution" (February 2022)
  
• Winkler et al. (2021) "Stronger net selection on males across animals" (January 2022)
  
• Cheng and Kirkpatrick (2021) "Molecular evolution and the decline of purifying selection with age" (November 2021)
  
• Buffalo (2021) "Quantifying the relationship between genetic diversity and population size suggests natural selection cannot explain Lewontin's Paradox" (October 2021)
  
• Teixeira and Huber (2021) "The inflated significance of neutral genetic diversity in conservation genetics" and Kardos et al. (2021) "The crucial role of genome-wide genetic variation in conservation" (September 2021)
  
• Benton et al. (2021) "The influence of evolutionary history on human health and disease" (May 2021)
  
• Bozdag et al. (2021) "Breaking a Species Barrier by Enabling Hybrid Recombination" and Supplement (March 2021)
  
• Nosil et al. (2021) "How many genetic changes create new species?" (March 2021)
  
• Volz et al. (2021) Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 Lineage B.1.1.7 in England: Insights from linking epidemiological and genetic data. (February 2021)
  
• Otto (2021) Why new covid-19 variants are on the rise and spreading around the world. (February 2021)
  
• Parker et al. (2017) Genomic Analyses Reveal the Influence of Geographic Origin, Migration, and Hybridization on Modern Dog Breed Development. (January 2021)
  
• Khait et al. (2019) Sound perception in plants. (December 2020)
  
• Veits et al. (2019) Flowers respond to pollinator sound within minutes by increasing nectar sugar concentration. (December 2020)
  
• Moorad et al. (2019) Evolutionary Ecology of Senescence and a Reassessment of Williams' 'Extrinsic Mortality' Hypothesis. (November 2020)
  
• Day & Abrams (2020) Density Dependence, Senescence, and Williams' Hypothesis. (October 2020)
  
• Yanni et al. (2020) Topological constraints in early multicellularity favor reproductive division of labor. eLife (October 14th 2020).
  
• Todesco et al (2020) Massive haplotypes underlie ecotypic differentiation in sunflowers. Nature, 584: 602-607 (September 13 2020).
  
• Flagel et al (2019) The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Convolutional Neural Networks in Population Genetic Inference. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 36.2:220-238 (May 13 2020).
  
• Origins and evolution of coronavirus - please scan this 2019 Nature Reviews Microbiology article on the evolution of pathogenic coronaviruses (published before the current outbreak of SARS-CoV-2) and read a recent paper or report to summarize for the group (sign-up sheet for additional material and suggestions so we don't all read the same thing).
  
• Where do we come from? A recent analysis of mtDNA places human origins in Botswana (Chan et al. 2019), but this paper has generated controversy (e.g., National Geographic piece) (December 4 2019).
• Detecting selection (or not) from polygenic scores (overview by Barton et al. 2019 and reanalysis of height data by Berg et al. 2019) (October 29 2019)
• On species ranges: a short theoretical overview (Connallon and Sgro 2018) and an empirical study in amphibians (Penner and Rodel 2019). [For those wanting more, see the original theory paper discussed by Connallon and Sgro (Polechova 2018).] (September 17 2019)
• Sella and Barton (2019) Thinking about the evolution of complex traits in the era of genome-wide association studies. ARGHG 20:22.1-22.33 (August 1 2019)
  
• Ragheb et al. (2018) Inhibiting the Evolution of Antibiotic Resistance. Molecular Cell 73:157-165 (May 15 2019)
  
• Moreno-Mayar et al. (2018) Terminal Pleistocene Alaskan genome reveals first founding population of Native Americans. Nature 553:203-207 (April 2, 2019)
  
• Grab et al. (2018) Agriculturally dominated landscapes reduce bee phylogenetic diversity and pollination services. Science 363.6424 (2019): 282-284. (February 20, 2019)
  
• Kern et al. (2018) The neutral theory in light of natural selection. Molecular biology and evolution, 35:1366-1371.
  & Jensen et al. (2018) The importance of the neutral theory in 1968 and 50 years on: a response to Kern & Hahn 2018. Evolution. (January 2019)
  
• Laland et al. (2014) Does evolutionary theory need a rethink? Nature 514:161-164 (October 23, 2014)
• Ratcliff et al. (2012) Experimental evolution of multicellularity. PNAS 109:1595-1600 (September 18, 2014)
• Atkinson 2011. Phonemic Diversity Supports a Serial Founder Effect Model of Language Expansion from Africa. Science 332: 346-349 (January 2012)
• Wagner 2011. Genotype networks shed light on evolutionary constraints. Trends in Ecology & Evolution (October 2011)
• Burke at al. (2010) Genome-wide analysis of a long-term evolution experiment with Drosophila. Nature 467: 5587 (January 2011)
• Stearns et al. (2010) Measuring selection in contemporary human populations. Nat. Rev. Gen. 11: 611 (November 2010)
• Laland, Odling-Smee and Myles. (2010) How culture shaped the human genome: bringing genetics and the human sciences together. Nat. Rev. Gen. 11: 137 (October 2010)
• Gregory and Ellis. (2009) Conceptions of evolution among science graduate students. Bioscience 59: 792)
  & Gregory (2008) Evolution as fact, theory, and Path. Evo Edu Outreach 1: 46 (March 2010)
• Hosokawa et al. (2010) Wolbachia as a bacteriocyte-associated nutritional mutualist. PNAS 107: 769
  & Marchetti et al. (2010) Experimental Evolution of a Plant Pathogen into a Legume Symbiont. PLoS Biology 8: e1000280 (Feburary 2010)
• Helbing and Yu. (2009) The outbreak of cooperation among success-driven individuals under noisy conditions. PNAS 106: 3680 (November 2009)
• Williamson. (2009) Caterpillars evolved from onychophorans through hybridogenesis. PNAS early edition.
  Gladyshev et al. (2008) Massive horizontal gene transfer in bdelloid rotifers. Science 320: 1210 (October 2009)
• Gogler et al. (2009) Menage a trois - two endemic species of deceptive orchids and one pollinator species. Evolution 63: 2222 (September 2009)
• Acquisti et al. (2009) Ecological nitrogen limitation shapes the DNA composition of plant genomes. Mol. Biol. Evol. 26: 953 (August 2009)
• Johnson et al (2009) Plant sex and the evolution of plant defences against herbivores (July 2009)
• Pryke and Griffith (2009) Postzygotic genetic incompatibility between sympatric color morphs. Evolution 63: 793 (May 2009)
• Stelkens and Seehausen (2009) Genetic distance between species predicts novel trait expression in their hybrids. Evolution 63: 884 (April 2009)
• Gavrilets et al. (2009) Adaptive radiation: Contrasting Theory with Data. Science 323: 723 (March 2009)
• Edelaar et al. (2008) Matching habitat choice causes directed gene flow: a neglected dimension in evolution and ecology. Evolution 62: 2462 (January 2009)
• Lemos et al. (2008) Dominance and the evolutionary accumulation of cis- and trans-effects on gene expression. PNAS 105: 14471-14476 (November 2008)
• Clune et al. (2008) Natural Selection Fails to Optimize Mutation Rates for Long-Term Adaptation on Rugged Fitness Landscapes. PLOS CB 4: e1000187 (October 2008)
• Lemos et al. (2008) Polymorphic Y Chromosomes Harbor Cryptic Variation with Manifold Functional Consequences. Science 319: 91 (September 2008)
• Hahn, M.W. (2008) Towards a Selection Theory of Molecular Evolution. Evolution 62:255-265 (May 2008)
• Draghi, J. and G.P. Wagner. (2008) Evolution of evolvability in a developmental model. Evolution. 62:301-315 (March 2008)
• Tao et al. (2007) A sex-ratio Meiotic Drive System in Drosophila simulans. I: An Autosomal Suppressor (January 2008)
• Pagel et al. (2007) Frequency of word-use predicts rates of lexical evolution throughout Indo-European history. Nature 449: 717-720 (December 2007)
• Hoekstra and Coyne. (2007) The locus of evolution: evo devo and the genetics of adaptation. Evolution 61-5: 995-1016 (October 2007)
• Swain et al. (2007) Evolutionary response to size-selective mortality in an exploited fish population. PRS-B doi:10.1098/rspb.2006.0275 (March 2007)
• Hansen et al. (2006) On adaptive accuracy and precision in natural populations. American Naturalist 168(2): 168-181 (February 2007)
• Milot et al. (2007) Surviving with low genetic diversity: the case of albatrosses. Proc. Roy. Soc. B. doi:10.1098/rspb.2006.0221 (January 2006)
• Mery, F. and Kawecki, T.J. (2004) The effect of learning on experimental evolution of resource preference in Drosophila melanogaster. Evolution. 58:757-767 (November 2006)
• Wilson et al. (2006) Environmental Coupling of Selection and Heritability Limits Evolution. PLoS B 4(7): 1270-1275 (October 2006)
• Crespi et al. (2006) Positive Selection of Genes for Schizophrenia. [Published as Adaptive evolution of genes underlying schizophrenia. Proc. Roy. Soc. B 274: 2801-2810.] (September 2006)
• Slonim et al. (2006) Ab initio genotype-phenotype association reveals intrinsic modularity in genetic networks. Molecular Systems Biology (April 2006)
• Gandhi et al. (2006) Analysis of the human protein interactome and comparison with yeast, worm and fly interaction datasets. Nature Genetics. 38: 285-293 (March 2006)
• Vazquez DP and MA Aizen (2004) Asymmetric specialization: a pervasive feature of plant-pollinator interactions. Ecology 85:1251-1257 (February 2006)
• Drummond et al. (2005) Why highly expressed proteins evolve slowly. PNAS. 102: 14338-14343 (January 2006)
• Kassen et al. (2004) Ecological constraints on diversification in a model adaptive radiation. Nature 451: 984 (February 2006)
  
• Hamon TR and CJ Foote (2005) Concurrent natural and sexual selection in wild male sockeye salmon, Oncorhynchus nerka. Evolution. 59:1104-1118 (November 2005)
• Otto SP (2004) Two steps forward, one step back: the pleiotropic effects of favoured alleles. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. 271:705-714 (April 2005)
• Svensson EI and B Sinervo (2004) Spatial scale and temporal component of selection in side-blotched lizards. Am Nat 163:726-734 (March 2005)
• Weaver et al. (2004) Epigenetic programming by maternal behavior. 7: 847-854
  & Sapolsky R (2004) Mothering style and methylation. Nature Neuroscience 7: 791 (February 2005)
• Kong et al. (2004) Recombination rate and reproductive success in humans. Nature Genetics 36:1203 (January 2005)
• Rivera MC and JA Lake (2004) The ring of life provides evidence for a genome fusion origin of eukaryotes. Nature 431: 152-155
  & Woese CR (2000) Interpreting the universal phylogenetic tree. PNAS 97: 8392-8396 (December 2004)
• Bolnick et al. (2003) The ecology of individuals: incidence and implications of individual specialization. Am. Nat. 161:1-28 (November 2004)
• Dujon et al. (2004) Genome evolution in yeasts. Nature 430: 35-44 (September 2004)
• Rat Genome Sequencing Project Consortium (2004) Genome sequence of the Brown Norway rat yields insights into mammalian evolution. Nature 428:493-521 (June 2004)
• Fallon et al. (2003) Island and taxon effects in parasitism revisited: Avian malaria in the Lesser Antilles. Evolution 57: 606-615 (May 2004)
• Gillespie R (2004) Community Assembly Through Adaptive Radiation in Hawaiian Spiders. Science 303: 356 (April 2004)
• Chuang JH and H Li (2004) Functional Bias and Spatial Organization of Genes in Mutational Hot and Cold Regions in the Human Genome. PLoS Biology 2: 0253 (March 2004)
• Bachtrog D (2003) Adaptation shapes patterns of genome evolution on sexual and asexual chromosomes in Drosophila. Nature Genet 34: 215 (February 2004)
• Lynch M and JS Conery (2003) The Origins of Genome Complexity. Science 302: 1401 (January 2004)
• Milton et al. (2003) Quantitative trait symmetry independent of Hsp90 buffering: distinct modes of genetic canalization and developmental stability. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 100: 13396 (December 2003)
• Beldade P and PM Brakefield (2003) Concerted evolution and developmental integration in modular butterfly wing patterns. Evolution and Development 5: 169 (December 2003)
• Doebeli M and U Dieckmann (2003) Speciation along environmental gradients. Nature 421: 259 (October 2003)