While the importance of mutualisms across the tree of life is recognized, it is not understood
why some organisms evolve high levels of dependence on mutualistic partnerships, while …

The unparalleled biodiversity found in the American tropics (the Neotropics) has attracted
the attention of naturalists for centuries. Despite major advances in recent years in our …

With~ 14,000 extant species, ants are ubiquitous and of tremendous ecological importance.
They have undergone remarkable diversification throughout their evolutionary history …

Ant–plant interactions are diverse and abundant and include classic models in the study of
mutualism and other biotic interactions. By estimating a time-scaled phylogeny of more than …

Indirect defence, the adaptive top‐down control of herbivores by plant traits that enhance
predation, is a central component of plant–herbivore interactions. However, the scope of …

Mutualisms teeter on a knife-edge between conflict and cooperation, or so the conventional
wisdom goes. The costs and benefits of mutualism often depend on the abiotic or biotic …

Symbioses are evolutionarily pervasive and play fundamental roles in structuring
ecosystems, yet our understanding of their macroevolutionary origins, persistence, and …

Mutualisms are mediated by adaptive traits of interacting organisms and play a central role
in the ecology and evolution of species. Thousands of plant species possess tiny structures …

Symbioses include some of the clearest cases of coevolution, but their origin, loss or
reassembly with different partners can rarely be inferred. Here we use ant/plant symbioses …

The epiphytic orchid Caularthron bilamellatum sacrifices its water storage tissue for nutrients
from the waste of ants lodging inside its hollow pseudobulb. Here, we investigate whether …