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The “Eyespot Module” and eyespots as modules: development, evolution, and integration of a complex phenotype
Author(s) -
Allen Cerisse E.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
journal of experimental zoology part b: molecular and developmental evolution
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.823
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1552-5015
pISSN - 1552-5007
DOI - 10.1002/jez.b.21186
Subject(s) - eyespot , biology , trait , evolutionary biology , selection (genetic algorithm) , sexual selection , mechanism (biology) , functional specialization , phenotype , function (biology) , wing , genetics , artificial intelligence , computer science , neuroscience , gene , philosophy , epistemology , programming language , engineering , aerospace engineering
Organisms are inherently modular, yet modules also evolve in response to selection for functional integration or functional specialization of traits. For serially repeated homologous traits, there is a clear expectation that selection on the function of individual traits will reduce the integration between traits and subdivide a single ancestral module. The eyespots on butterfly wings are one example of serially repeated morphological traits that share a common developmental mechanism but are subject to natural and sexual selection for divergent functions. Here, I test two hypotheses about the organization of the eyespot pattern into independent dorsal‐ventral and anterior‐posterior modules, using a graphical modeling technique to examine patterns of eyespot covariation among and within wing surfaces in the butterfly Bicyclus anynana . Although there is a hierarchical and complex pattern of integration among eyespots, the results show a surprising mismatch between patterns of eyespot integration and the developmental and evolutionary eyespot units identified in previous empirical studies. These results are discussed in light of the relationships between developmental, functional, and evolutionary modules, and they suggest that developmental sources of independent trait variation are often masked by developmental sources of trait integration. J. Exp. Zool. (Mol. Dev. Evol.) 310B:179–190, 2008 . © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.