Taxon-restricted genes at the origin of a novel trait allowing access to a new environment

Fans enable water strider adaptation Genomes of closely related organisms are similar but contain variations that enable different phenotypes and lifestyles. The origin of evolutionary innovations, such as insect wings and bird feathers, poses a challenge to evolutionary biology because the de novo emergence of complex traits cannot easily be explained by natural selection. Water-walking Rhagovelia insects evolved a propelling fan on the middle leg that is associated with life on fast-flowing streams. Santos et al. discovered that the geisha and mother-of-geisha genes underlie fan development and evolution and that this evolutionary innovation is essential to the adaptation of Rhagovelia to its environment. Thus, the evolution of taxon-restricted genes can contribute directly to taxon-restricted novelties that allow access to unexploited ecological niches. Science , this issue p. 386