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Where exactly do species go extinct on networks?

David A. Brewster, Gabor Lippner, Josef Tkadlec, Martin A. Nowak

May 26, 2026

Researchers tracked where the final individuals of a dying genotype disappear in structured populations like networks or geographic grids. The fixation location—which node harbors the last wild-type individual—follows a surprisingly uneven distribution that depends heavily on network structure and selection strength. This matters because populations on real landscapes (islands, cities, social networks) won't go extinct uniformly, opening new ways to predict and manage extinction.
Published as Fixation location in structured populations arXiv:2605.26411
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