Evolving Pathways: Key Themes in Evolutionary Developmental Biology

Description

Evolutionary developmental biology, or 'evo-devo', is the study of the relationship between evolution and development. Dealing specifically with the generative mechanisms of organismal form, evo-devo goes straight to the core of the developmental origin of variation, the raw material on which natural selection (and random drift) can work. Evolving Pathways responds to the growing volume of data in this field, with its potential to answer fundamental questions in biology, by fuelling debate through contributions that represent a diversity of approaches. Topics range from developmental genetics to comparative morphology of animals and plants alike, also including palaeontology. Researchers and graduate students will find this book a valuable overview of current research as we begin to fill a major gap in our perception of evolutionary change.

Table of Contents

Contributors
Preface
Introduction: Pathways of change

Part I Thinking about evolution by taking development on board 1

1 Evo-devo as a discipline Gerd B. Muller 5

2 Making evolutionary predictions about the structure of development and morphology: beyond the neo-Darwinian and constraints paradigms Isaac Salazar-Ciudad 31

3 Conflicting hypotheses on the nature of mega-evolution Wallace Arthur 50

4 Prospects of evo-devo for linking pattern and process in the evolution of morphospace Paul M. Brakefield 62

5 The molecular biology underlying developmental evolution Claudio R. Alonso 80

6 Evo-devo's identity: from model organisms to developmental types Ronald A. Jenner 100

Part II Evo-devo: methods and materials 121

7 A pragmatic approach for selecting evo-devo model species in amniotes Athanasia C. Tzika Michel C. Milinkovitch 123

8 On comparisons and causes in evolutionary developmental biology Gerhard Scholtz 144

9 Evolution and development: towards a synthesis of macro- and micro-evolution with ecology Hans Zauner Ralf J. Sommer 160

10 When is a Hox gene not a Hox gene? The importance of gene nomenclature David E. K. Ferrier 175

11 Plants are used to having identity crises Rolf Rutishauser Valentin Grob Evelin Pfeifer 194

Part III Evolving diversity 215

12 Unravelling body plan and axial evolution in the Bilateria with molecular phylogenetic markers Jaume Baguna Pere Martinez Jordi Paps Marta Riutort 217

13 Are transposition events at the origin of the bilaterian Hox complexes? Jean S. Deutsch Philippe Lopez 239

14 Many roads lead to Rome: different ways to construct a nematode Einhard Schierenberg Jens Schulze261

15 Basal euarthropod development: a fossil-based perspective Nigel C. Hughes Joachim T. Haug Dieter Waloszek 281

16 Developmental transitions during the evolution of plant form Jane A. Langdale C. Jill Harrison 299

Part IV Evolving body features 317

17 Urbisexuality: the evolution of bilaterian germ cell specification and reproductive systems Cassandra G. M. Extavour 321

18 Thoughts and speculations on the ancestral arthropod segmentation pathway Ariel D. Chipman 343

19 Evolution of neurogenesis in arthropods Angelika Stollewerk 359

20 Arthropod appendages: a prime example for the evolution of morphological diversity and innovation Nikola-Michael Prpic Wim G. M. Damen 381

21 Ontogeny of the spiralian brain Claus Nielsen 399

Index 417