Scott F. Gilbert - Böcker

Evolutionary Developmental Biology, Volume 141 focuses on recent research in evolutionary developmental biology, the science studying how changes in development cause the variations that natural selection operate on. Several new hypotheses and models are presented in this volume, and these concern how homology may be properly delineated, how neural crest and placode cells emerged and how they formed the skull and jaw, and how plasticity and developmental symbiosis enable normal development to be regulated by environmental factors. New models for homology New hypotheses for the generation of chordates New models for the roles of plasticity and symbionts in normal development

Recent discoveries in fields ranging from molecular and cell biology to ecology and evolution have given rise to 'ecological and evolutionary developmental biology' (or simply, 'eco-evo-devo'), the new science aimed at clarifying how the interplay between genes and environment shapes how organisms develop, interact, and evolve.Eco-Evo-Devo: The Environmental Regulation of Development, Health, and Evolution provides a synthetic overview of this new field, which merges evolution with ecological developmental biology. The book discusses such major themes as how multicellular organisms function, develop, and evolve as consortia of different symbiotic organisms, how many organisms can generate numerous traits depending on the environmental conditions they experience via phenotypic plasticity, and how living things have evolved several layers of inheritance that do not rely on the transmission of genes from parent to offspring. As the book details, these themes question many of our longstanding assumptions about how biology works, as well as having practical implications in preventing many diseases and mitigating biodiversity loss.Written for any undergraduate and graduate students with a basic knowledge of biology, Eco-Evo-Devo promises to stimulate new thinking about inheritance, development, ecology, evolution, and health.

A new account of the central role developmental processes play in evolutionA new scientific view of evolution is emerging—one that challenges and expands our understanding of how evolution works. Recent research demonstrates that organisms differ greatly in how effective they are at evolving. Whether and how each organism adapts and diversifies depends critically on the mechanistic details of how that organism operates—its development, physiology, and behavior. That is because the evolutionary process itself has evolved over time, and continues to evolve. The scientific understanding of evolution is evolving too, with groundbreaking new ways of explaining evolutionary change. In this book, a group of leading biologists draw on the latest findings in evolutionary genetics and evo-devo, as well as novel insights from studies of epigenetics, symbiosis, and inheritance, to examine the central role that developmental processes play in evolution.Written in an accessible style, and illustrated with fascinating examples of natural history, the book presents recent scientific discoveries that expand evolutionary biology beyond the classical view of gene transmission guided by natural selection. Without undermining the central importance of natural selection and other Darwinian foundations, new developmental insights indicate that all organisms possess their own characteristic sets of evolutionary mechanisms. The authors argue that a consideration of developmental phenomena is needed for evolutionary biologists to generate better explanations for adaptation and biodiversity. This book provides a new vision of adaptive evolution.

A new account of the central role developmental processes play in evolutionA new scientific view of evolution is emerging—one that challenges and expands our understanding of how evolution works. Recent research demonstrates that organisms differ greatly in how effective they are at evolving. Whether and how each organism adapts and diversifies depends critically on the mechanistic details of how that organism operates—its development, physiology, and behavior. That is because the evolutionary process itself has evolved over time, and continues to evolve. The scientific understanding of evolution is evolving too, with groundbreaking new ways of explaining evolutionary change. In this book, a group of leading biologists draw on the latest findings in evolutionary genetics and evo-devo, as well as novel insights from studies of epigenetics, symbiosis, and inheritance, to examine the central role that developmental processes play in evolution.Written in an accessible style, and illustrated with fascinating examples of natural history, the book presents recent scientific discoveries that expand evolutionary biology beyond the classical view of gene transmission guided by natural selection. Without undermining the central importance of natural selection and other Darwinian foundations, new developmental insights indicate that all organisms possess their own characteristic sets of evolutionary mechanisms. The authors argue that a consideration of developmental phenomena is needed for evolutionary biologists to generate better explanations for adaptation and biodiversity. This book provides a new vision of adaptive evolution.

"Glory to the science of embryology!" So Johannes Holtfreter closed his letter to this editor when he granted permission to publish his article in this volume. And glory there is: glory in the phenomenon of animals developing their complex morphologies from fertilized eggs, and glory in the efforts of a relatively small group of scientists to understand these wonderful events. Embryology is unique among the biological disciplines, for it denies the hegemony of the adult and sees value (indeed, more value) in the stages that lead up to the fully developed organism. It seeks the origin, and not merely the maintenance, of the body. And if embryology is the study of the embryo as seen over time, the history of embryology is a second-order derivative, seeing how the study of embryos changes over time. As Jane Oppenheimer pointed out, "Sci­ ence, like life itself, indeed like history, itself, is a historical phenomenon. It can build itself only out of its past. " Thus, there are several ways in which embryology and the history of embryology are similar. Each takes a current stage of a developing entity and seeks to explain the paths that brought it to its present condition. Indeed, embryology used to be called Entwicklungsgeschichte, the developmental history of the organism. Both embryology and its history interpret the interplay between internal factors and external agents in the causation of new processes and events.