The evolution of animals and their gut symbionts is a complex phenomenon, obscured by lability and diversity. In social organisms, transmission of symbionts among relatives may yield systems with more stable associations. Here, we study the history of a social insect symbiosis involving cephalotine ants and their extracellular gut bacteria, which come predominantly from host‐specialized lineages. We perform multi‐locus phyloge...

Functional traits offer a rich quantitative framework for developing and testing theories in evolutionary biology, ecology and ecosystem science. However, the potential of functional traits to drive theoretical advances and refine models of global change can only be fully realised when species‐level information is complete. Here we present the AVONET dataset containing comprehensive functional trait data for all birds, includi...

Aim To describe patterns of crop richness at a global scale and investigate the potential influence of energy, water, habitat heterogeneity, area and economic commitment to agricultural practices on patterns of crop species richness. Location World‐wide. Methods Ethnographic literature for 86 subsistence‐oriented societies was surveyed; 55 of these societies grow crops and 31 do not. These 86 societies occupy the range of lati...