Evo-devo and the Evolution of Marine Larvae: From the Modern World to the Dawn of the Metazoa

Abstract

I present my recollections of the significance of ideas, discussions and consequences of the 1981 Dahlem conference that attempted to draw together evolutionary and developmental biology, and in the presentation at that conference of the hypothesis that development might contribute novel mechanisms of evolution. I also discuss my approaches in seeking a suitable non-model organism for asking experimental questions about Evo-devo, and in seeking to integrate the disciplines, including paleontology, systematics, and developmental genetics, which coalesced into a distinct science of Evo-devo in the ensuing years.