When red devil spiders ventured down the Atlantic and arrived on the Canary Islands, their genome dramatically shrank and became half the size within just a few million years (a blink of an eye in terms of evolution). A new study has investigated this “extraordinary diversification” to better understand how genomes can undergo such rapid ballooning or slimming. The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the full content.

The Canary Islands are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, found off the northwestern coast of Africa. They were formed by waves of volcanic activity starting around 20 million years ago, making this cluster of islands a relatively new addition to the planet.

Their geological youth also makes the islands a natural laboratory

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