The Southern Ocean as an evolutionary arena for structural genomic variation

Structural genomic variation is a significant evolutionary modifier, impacting species adaptation, diversification, and speciation globally, yet its general contribution to evolution in geographical areas of environmental variability is rarely discussed. Long-standing hypotheses suggest that the Earth's orbital oscillations, generating cycles of environmental instability across the Southern Ocean seafloor, have boosted the formation of biological diversity. We highlight that structural genomic variation possibly influences evolutionary processes in the Southern Ocean through time, linking to the region's unique biogeography and turbulent physical history. Structural genomic variation is, hence, emerging as one of the causes that can shape adaptation, diversification, and divergence in one of the largest marine evolutionary arenas, the Southern Ocean.