The Shape of Life: Genes, Development, and the Evolution of Animal Form

Abstract

This book examines the links between the evolution of animal body plans, which emerged over 530 million years ago during the Cambrian radiation, and the evolution of the developmental processes that act on these plans to produce the great diversity of living animal forms. Twelve chapters discuss the following topics: historical origins of the relationships between evolutionary biology and developmental biology; animal body plans and the use of phylogenetic methods; origins of the animal phyla in the Cambrian radiation and the use of gene sequence data to answer phylogenetic questions; developmental problems posed by body plans and their modifications; mechanistic relationship between development and evolution; mechanistic issues posed by the hypothesis that internal (genomic) organization, developmental processes, and their controls ultimately guide evolution; genomic fluidity and its consequences, and the evolution of novel body plans. The text is developed through themes drawn from phylogenetic, comparative, and functional biology. It will interest scientists working in these areas as well those in paleontology, zoology, morphology, molecular biology, and genetics.