Morphological innovation without gene co-option: the Drosophila sex comb evolved via changes in developmental tempo and energy metabolism
Ben R. Hopkins, Olga Y. Barmina, Xinying Wang, Mandy M. Situ, Haley A. Bolanos, Shizhan Nie, Artyom Kopp
This study shows that the Drosophila sex comb evolved through changes in developmental tempo and energy metabolism, not by co-opting new genes into downstream networks.
bioRxiv · Feb 15, 2026 · PreprintEvolutionary Biology