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Developmental mechanisms for morphological evolution
Author(s) -
Abzhanov Arkhat
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.27.1_supplement.14.4
Subject(s) - morphometrics , evolutionary developmental biology , biology , evolutionary biology , multicellular organism , identification (biology) , phylogenetics , morphology (biology) , convergent evolution , heterochrony , zoology , ecology , ontogeny , genetics , gene
One of the chief aims of modern biology is to understand the causes and mechanisms of morphological evolution. Multicellular animals display a stunning diversity of shapes and sizes of their bodies and individual structures, much of it important to their survival. What is the most efficient way to study the evolution of morphological diversity? The old‐new field of evolutionary developmental biology (evo‐devo) can be particularly useful for understanding the origins of animal forms, as it aims to consolidate advances from disparate fields such as phylogenetics, genomics, morphometrics and developmental biology. We use examples of our work on developmental mechanisms for small‐ and large‐scale morphological evolution to suggest an efficient strategy that uses highly interdependent components: (a) morphometrics, (b) identification of candidate mechanisms, and (c) functional experiments. Our studies illustrate how multifarious evo‐devo approaches taken within the three‐winged evo‐devo research program can explain developmental mechanisms for morphological evolution across different phylogenetic scales.