The contribution of developmental palaeontology to extensions of evolutionary theory
Laura A. B. Wilson
Kyoto University Museum, Yoshida-honmachi, Sakyo-ku, 606-8501 Kyoto, Japan
Search for more papers by this authorLaura A. B. Wilson
Kyoto University Museum, Yoshida-honmachi, Sakyo-ku, 606-8501 Kyoto, Japan
Search for more papers by this authorAbstract
Evo-devo is featuring prominently in current discussion to extend evolutionary theory. Developmental palaeontology, the study of life history evolution and ontogeny in fossils, remains an area of investigation that could benefit from, but also illuminate, the discourse and research agenda of evo-devo. Understanding how and why evolution proceeds in phenotypic space is an important goal of evo-devo and one that can be significantly enriched through the examination of development in the fossil record (Palaeo-evo-devo). Such an approach permits developmental pathways to be extended into the past, constraining hypotheses of developmental evolution in ways that cannot be predicted by patterns observed from extant taxa alone. The comparison of developmental dynamics among extant and extinct taxa yields a more complete understanding of the temporal persistence of factors that shape evolution in phenotypic space. As more data are compiled that document ‘fossilized ontogenies’, a stage will emerge from which insights into the evolution of development can begin to appraise those phenotypes that are inaccessible to evo-devo.
References
- Alberch, P.1980. Ontogenesis and morphological diversification. – American Zoologist 20: 653–667.
- Arnold, S. J.1992. Constraints on phenotypic evolution. – American Naturalist 140: S85–S107.
- Arnold, S. J., Pfrender, M. E. and Jones, A. G.2001. The adaptive landscape as a conceptual bridge between micro-and macroevolution. – Genetica 112: 9–32.
- Arnold, S. J., Bürger, R., Hohenlohe, P. A., Ajie, B. C. and Jones, A. G.2008. Understanding the evolution and stability of the G-matrix. – Evolution 62: 2451–2461.
- Bloom, J. D., Labthavikul, S. T., Otey, C. R. and Arnold, F. H.2006. Protein stability promotes evolvability. – Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 103: 5869–5874.
- Bock, W. J.1979. The synthetic explanation of macroevolutionary change: A reductionistic approach. – Bulletin of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History 13: 20–69.
- Callier, V., Clack, J. A. and Ahlberg, P. E.2009. Contrasting developmental trajectories in the earliest known tetrapod forelimbs. – Science 324: 364–367.
- Cheverud, J. M.1984. Quantitative genetics and developmental constraints on evolution by selection. – Journal of Theoretical Biology 110: 155–171.
- Chinsamy-Turan, A.2005. The Microstructure of Dinosaur Bone – Deciphering Biology with Fine-Scale Techniques. John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.
- Cloutier, R.2010. The fossil record of fish ontogenies: Insights into developmental patterns and processes. – Seminars in Cell & Developmental Biology 31: 400–413.
- Coates, M. I. and Clack, J. A.1990. Polydactyly in the earliest known tetrapod limbs. – Nature 347: 66–69.
- Conrad, M.1990. The geometry of evolution. – Biosytems 24: 61–81.
- Delfino, M. and Sánchez-Villagra, M. R.2010. A survey of the rock record of reptilian ontogeny. – Seminars in Cell & Developmental Biology 21: 432–440.
- Dobzhansky, T.1937. Genetics and the Origin of Species. Columbia University Press, New York.
- Donoghue, P. C. J., Kouchinsky, A., Waloszek, D., Bengtson, S., Dong, X. P., Val’kov, A. K., Cunningham, J. A. and Repetski, J. E.2006a. Fossilized embryos are widespread but the record is temporally and taxonomically biased. – Evolution & Development 8: 232–238.
- Donoghue, P. C. J., Bengston, S., Dong, X. P., Gostling, N. J., Huldtgren, T., Cunningham, J. A., Yin, C., Yue, Z., Peng, F. and Stampanoni, M.2006b. Synchroton X-ray tomographic microscopy of fossil embryos. – Nature 442: 680–683.
- Duboule, D.2005. A long and winding road. – Science 308: 955–956.
- Eldredge, N. and Cracraft, J.1980. Phylogenetic Patterns and the Evolutionary Process. Columbia University Press, New York, NY.
- Eronen, J. T., Polly, P. D., Fred, M., Damuth, J., Frank, D. C., Mosbrugger, V., Scheidegger, C., Stenseth, N. C. and Fortelius, M.2010. Ecometrics: The traits that bind the past and present together. – Integrative Zoology 5: 88–101.
- Erwin, D. H.2000. Macroevolution is more than repeated rounds of microevolution. – Evolution & Development 2: 78–84.
- Fisher, R. A.1918. The correlation between relatives on the supposition of Mendelian inheritance. – Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 52: 399–433.
10.1017/S0080456800012163 Google Scholar
- Frobisch, N. B., Olori, J. C., Schoch, R. R. and Witzmann, F.2010. Amphibian development in the fossil record. – Seminars in Cell & Developmental Biology 21: 424–431.
- Gavrilets, S.1999. A dynamical theory of speciation on holey adaptive landscapes. – American Naturalist 154: 1–22.
- Goswami, A.2006. Cranial modularity shifts during mammalian evolution. – American Naturalist 168: 270–280.
- Goudemand, N., Orchard, M. J., Urdy, S., Bucher, H. and Tafforeau, P.2011. Synchroton-aided reconstruction of the conodont feeding apparatus and implications for the mouth of the first vertebrates. – Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 108: 8720–8724.
- Gould, S. J.1977. Ontogeny and Phylogeny. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.
- Gould, S. J.1980a. Is a new and general theory of evolution emerging?– Paleobiology 6: 119–130.
- Gould, S. J.1980b. G. G. Simpson, Paleontology, and the Modern Synthesis. In: E. Mayr and W. B. Provine (Eds): The Evolutionary Synthesis: Perspectives on the Unification of Biology, pp. 193–225. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.
- Gould, S. J.1982. Darwinism and the expansion of evolutionary theory. – Science 216: 380–387.
- Gould, S. J.1985. The paradox of the first tier: An agenda for Paleobiology. – Paleobiology 11: 2–12.
- Gould, S. J. and Lewontin, R. C.1979. The spandrels of San Marco and the panglossian paradigm: A critique of the adaptationist programme. – Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B Biological Sciences 205: 581–598.
- Grantham, T.2007. Is macroevolution more than successive rounds of microevolution?– Palaeontology 50: 75–85.
- Gravner, J., Pitman, D. and Gavrilets, S.2007. Percolation on fitness landscapes: Effects of correlation, phenotype, and incompatibilities. – Journal of Theoretical Biology 248: 627–645.
- Haldane, J. B. S.1932. The Causes of Evolution. Longman, Green, London.
- Hall, B. K.2000. Guest editorial: Evo-devo or devo-evo – does it matter?– Evolution & Development 2: 177–178.
- Hansen, T. F. and Houle, D.2004. Evolvability, stabilizing selection, and the problem of stasis. In: M. Pigliucci and K. Preston (Eds): Phenotypic Integration, pp. 130–150. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
- Hayden, E. Y., Ferrada, E. and Wagner, A.2011. Cryptic genetic variation promotes rapid evolutionary adaptation in an RNA enzyme. – Nature 474: 92–U120.
- Hendrikse, J. L., Parsons, T. E. and Hallgrímsson, B.2007. Evolvability as the proper focus of evolutionary developmental biology. – Evolution & Development 9: 393–401.
- Hughes, N. C.2003. Trilobite tagmosis and body patterning from morphological and developmental perspectives. – American Zoologist 43: 185–206.
- Hughes, N. C.2007. The evolution of trilobite body patterning. – Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences 35: 401–434.
- Hughes, N. C. and Chapman, R. E.1995. Growth and variation in the Silurian proetide trilobite Aulacopleura konincki and its implications for trilobite palaeobiology. – Lethaia 28: 333–353.
- Humphrey, L. T., Dean, M. C., Jeffries, T. E. and Penn, M.2008. Unlocking evidence of early diet from tooth enamel. – Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 105: 6834–6839.
- Hunt, G.2007. The relative importance of directional change, random walks, and stasis in the evolution of fossil lineages. – Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 104: 18404–18408.
- Jablonski, D.2007. Scale and hierarchy in macroevolution. – Paleontology 50: 87–109.
- Jablonski, D.2010. Origination patterns and multi-level processes in macroevolution. In: M. Pigliucci and G. B. Müller (Eds): Evolution, the Extended Synthesis, pp. 335–354. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.
10.7551/mitpress/9780262513678.003.0013 Google Scholar
- Kavanagh, K. D., Evans, A. R. and Jernvall, J.2007. Predicting evolutionary patterns of mammalian teeth from development. – Nature 449: 427–433.
- Klingenberg, C. P.2004. Integration, modules and development: Molecules to morphology to evolution. In: M. Pigliucci and K. Preston (Eds): Phenotypic Integration, pp. 213–230. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
- Klingenberg, C. P.2010. Evolution and development of shape integrating quantitative approaches. – Nature Review Genetics 11: 623–635.
- Kramer, E. M. and Donohue, K.2006. Traversing the adaptive landscape in snapdragons. – Science 313: 924–925.
- Leroi, A. M.2000. The scale independence of evolution. – Evolution & Development 2: 67–77.
- Li, G. and Luo, Z.-X.2006. A Cretaceous symmetrodont therian with some monotreme-like postcranial features. – Nature 439: 195–200.
- Love, A. C.2003. Evolutionary morphology, innovation, and the synthesis of evolutionary and developmental biology. – Biology & Philosophy 18: 309–345.
- Love, A. C.2009. Marine invertebrates, model organisms, and the modern synthesis: Epistemic values, evo-devo, and exclusion. – Theory in Biosciences 128: 19–42.
- Luo, Z.-X.2007. Transformation and diversification in early mammal evolution. – Nature 450: 1011–1019.
- Luo, Z.-X., Chen, P.-J., Li, G. and Chen, M.2007. A new eutriconodont mammal and evolutionary development of early mammals. 446 Nature 288–293.
- Marroig, G. and Cheverud, J. M.2004. Cranial evolution in sakis (Pithecia, Platyrrhini) I: Interspecific differentiation and allometric patterns. – American Journal of Physical Anthropology 125: 266–278.
- Mayr, E.1942. Systematics and the Origin of Species. Columbia University Press, New York.
- Monnet, C., Zollikofer, C., Bucher, H. and Goudemand, N.2009. Three-dimensional morphometric ontogeny of mollusc shells by micro-computed tomography and geometric analysis. – Palaeontologica Electronica 12: 12A.
- Müller, G. B.2007. Evo-devo: Extending the evolutionary synthesis. – Nature Review Genetics 8: 943–949.
- Müller, J., Scheyer, T. M., Head, J. J., Barrett, P. M., Werneburg, I., Ericson, P. G. P., Pol, D. and Sánchez-Villagra, M. R.2010. Homeotic effects, somitogenesis and the evolution of vertebral numbers in recent and fossil amniotes. – Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 107: 2118–2123.
- Olson, E. C. and Miller, R. L.1951. Relative growth in paleontological studies. – Journal of Paleontology 25: 212–223.
- Olson, E. C. and Miller, R. L.1958. Morphological Integration. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
- Pigliucci, M.2007. Do we need an extended evolutionary synthesis?– Evolution 61: 2743–2749.
- Pigliucci, M.2008a. Is evolvability evolvable?– Nature Review Genetics 9: 75–82.
- Pigliucci, M.2008b. Sewall Wright’s adaptive landscapes: 1932 vs. 1988. – Biology & Philosophy 23: 591–603.
- Pigliucci, M.2010. Genotype-phenotype mapping and the end of the ‘genes as blueprint’ metaphor. – Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 365: 557–566.
- Pigliucci, M. and Kaplan, J.2006. Making Sense of Evolution: The Conceptual Foundations of Evolutionary Biology. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
10.7208/chicago/9780226668352.001.0001 Google Scholar
- Pigliucci, M. and Müller, G. B.2010. Evolution. The Extended Synthesis. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.
- Polly, P. D.2007. Development with a bite. – Nature 449: 413–417.
- Polly, P. D., Eronen, J. T., Fred, M., Dietl, G. P., Mosbrugger, V., Scheidegger, C., Frank, D. C., Damuth, J., Stenseth, N. C. and Fortelius, M.2011. History matters: Ecometrics and integrative climate change biology. – Proceedings of the Royal Society London B Biological Sciences 278: 1131–1140.
- Raff, R. A.2000. Evo-devo: The evolution of a new discipline. – Nature Review Genetics 1: 74–79.
- Raff, R. A. and Kaufmann, T. C.1983. Embryos, Genes, and Evolution: The Developmental-Genetic Basis of Evolutionary Change. Macmillan Publishing, New York.
- Rensch, B.1959. Evolution Above the Species Level. Wiley, New York, NY.
- Revell, L. J.2007. The G matrix under fluctuating correlational mutation and selection. –Evolution 61: 1857–1872.
- Rice, S. H.2008. The G-matrix as one piece of the phenotypic evolution puzzle. –Evolutionary Biology 35: 106–107.
- Sánchez-Villagra, M. R.2010. Developmental palaeontology in synapsids: The fossil record of ontogeny in mammals and their closest relatives. – Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B Biological Sciences 277: 1139–1147.
- Sánchez-Villagra, M. R.2012. Embryos in Deep Time. University of California Press, San Francisco, CA in press.
- Sander, M. and Klein, N.2005. Developmental plasticity in the life history of a prosauropod dinosaur. – Science 310: 1800–1802.
- Schindel, D. E.1980. Microstratigraphic sampling and the limits of paleontological sampling. – Palaeobiology 6: 408–426.
- Schmalhausen, I. I.1949. Factors of Evolution: The Theory of Stabilizing Selection. Blakiston, Philadelphia.
- Schmidt, L. and Sánchez-Villagra, M. R.2010. Potential genetic bases of morphological evolution in the Triassic fish Sauricthys. – Journal of Experimental Zoology 314B: 519–526.
- Shubin, N., Tabin, C. and Carroll, S.2009. Deep homology and the origins of evolutionary novelty. – Nature 457: 818–823.
- Simpson, G. G.1944. Tempo and Mode in Evolution. Columbia University Press, New York.
- Stebbins, G. L.1950. Variation and Evolution in Plants. Columbia University Press, New York.
10.7312/steb94536 Google Scholar
- Urdy, S., Goudemand, N., Bucher, H. and Chirat, R.2010a. Allometries and the morphogenesis of the molluscan shell: A quantitative and theoretical model. – Journal of Experimental Zoology 314B: 280–302.
- Urdy, S., Goudemand, N., Bucher, H. and Chirat, R.2010b. Growth-dependent phenotypic variation of molluscan shells: Implications for allometric data interpretation. – Journal of Experimental Zoology 314B: 303–326.
- Vrba, E. S.1983. Macroevolutionary trends: New perspective on the roles of adaptation and incidental effect. – Science 221: 387–389.
- Wagner, G. P.2007. The road to modularity. – Nature Review Genetics 8(12): 921–931.
- Wagner, G. P. and Altenberg, L.1996. Perspective: Complex adaptations and the evolution of evolvability. – Evolution 50: 967–976.
- Wagner, A.2008a. Robustness and evolvability: A paradox resolved. – Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences 275: 91–100.
- Wagner, A.2008b. Neutralism and selectionism: A network based reconciliation. – Nature Review Genetics 9: 965–974.
- Wagner, G. P. and Larsson, H. C. E.2003. What is the promise of developmental evolution III. The crucible of developmental evolution. – Journal of Experimental Zoology 300B: 1–4.
- Webster, M. and Zelditch, M. L.2011. Modularity of a cambrian ptychoparioid trilobite cranidium. – Evolution & Development 13: 96–109.
- Wilson, L. A. B., Madden, R. H., Kay, R. F. and Sánchez-Villagra, M. R.2011. Testing a developmental model in the fossil record: Molar proportions in South American ungulates. – Paleobiology 38(2), in press.
- Wright, S.1932. The roles of mutation, inbreeding, crossbreeding and selection in evolution. In: D. F. Jones (Ed.): Proceedings of the Sixth International Congress on Genetics, volume 1, pp. 356–366. Brooklyn Botanic Garden, New York.
- Zollikofer, C. P. E. and Ponce de Leόn, M. S.2010. The evolution of hominin ontogenies. – Seminars in Cell & Developmental Biology 21: 441–452.