Current Biology

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Scientific journal publishing research, overview and commentary across all of biology. All of it! https://www.cell.com/current-biology/home Part of CellPress @cellpress.bsky.social

Cover of Current Biology with a photo of a wolf spider looking at the camera.
In this issue, Chen et al. present the first population genomics analyses of Indian Ocean hydrothermal vent animals, using eight populations of the scaly-foot snail (Chrysomallon squamiferum) distributed across three mid-ocean ridges. They show an asymmetric south-to-north gene flow driven by deep currents and aided by ghost populations. Their results also identify source-sink dynamics and dispersal barriers essential for conservation planning in the context of upcoming deep-sea mining. The scaly-foot snail is an iconic vent-endemic species famed for the iron-infused sclerites on its foot and functions as a flagship species in deep-sea conservation efforts.
On the top of the head, the parietal “third eye” of the Mojave fringe-toed lizard (Uma scoparia) illuminates the deep past of the vertebrate retina. In their review in this issue, Kafetzis et al. trace the origin of our eyes to an ancient, composite median visual system predating vertebrates. The retina's layered organization echoes the structure of this ancestral system. Photo credit: Vasilis Karkalas.
In this issue, Fele et al. investigate nighttime rest in wild chacma baboons. They show that individuals synchronize their rest, but dominant baboons rest less and with more interruptions, likely because higher-ranked individuals have more nearby group members, which increases the chances of being disturbed. Photograph © Nick Dale
On the cover: A phoronid (Phoronis australis) extending its crown-like feeding organ, the lophophore, from its tube on the seabed. These sedentary marine invertebrates belong to the spiralian branch of bilaterian animals. For over a century, their closest relatives have been debated, with competing hypotheses linking them to either brachiopods or bryozoans. In this issue, Lewin et al. present a chromosome-level genome of P. australis and reveal that it shares seven derived chromosome fusions with bryozoans. This provides rare, sequence-independent evidence supporting bryozoans as the closest relatives of phoronids and offers new insights into the evolution of genome structure and animal body plans. Photograph © Fred Bavendam; used with permission.
A male Victoria's riflebird (Ptiloris victoriae) in display.
Nautiloids (pictured)—a lineage of ancient, externally shelled cephalopods—once dominated our oceans, but today, these living fossils are threatened and in need of protection from over-exploitation.
A Wolkberg dwarf chameleon (Bradypodion transvaalense) using its ballistic tongue to capture prey.
X-ray diffraction pattern of B-DNA by Rosalind Franklin and Raymond Gosling, 1951.