Form and Function in Developmental Evolution

About this book

This book represents a new effort to understand very old questions about biological form, function, and the relationships between them.

The essays collected here reflect the diversity of approaches in evolutionary developmental biology (Evo Devo), including not only studies by prominent scientists whose research focuses on topics concerned with evolution and development, but also historically and conceptually oriented studies that place the scientific work within a larger framework and ask how it can be pushed further. Topics under discussion range from the use of theoretical and empirical biomechanics to understand the evolution of plant form, to detailed studies of the evolution of development and the role of developmental constraints on phenotypic variation. The result is a rich and interdisciplinary volume that will begin a wider conversation about the shape of Evo Devo as it matures as a field.

Contents

1. Introduction Andrew L. Hamilton, Manfred Laubichler, and Jane Maienschein;
2. Form and Function in Evo Devo: Historical and Conceptual Issues Manfred D. Laubichler;
3. Deducing Plant Function from Organic Form: Challenges and Pitfalls Karl J. Niklas;
4. Evolution in the Light of Embryos: Seeking the Origins of Novelties in Ontogeny Rudolf A. Raff and Elizabeth C. Raff;
5. A Focus on Both Form and Function in Examining Selection versus Constraint Paul M. Brakefield;
6. Innovation and Diversity in Functional Morphology Peter C. Wainwright;
7. The Developmental Evolution of Avian Digit Homology; An Update Gunter P. Wagner;
8. Functional Analysis and Character Transformation Richard A. Richards;
9. The Nature of Constraints Roger Samson;
10. Towards a Mechanistic Evo Devo Andrew L. Hamilton

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Biography

Manfred D. Laubichler is Professor of Theoretical Biology and History of Biology and Affiliated Professor of Philosophy at Arizona State University. He is co-editor with Gerd B. Muller of Modeling Biology: Structures, Behaviors, Evolution (2007).

Jane Maienschein is Regents' Professor, President's Professor, and Parents Association Professor Director at the Center for Biology and Society, Arizona State University. She is author of Whose View of Life? Embryos, Cloning and Stem Cells (2003, 2005) and co-editor with Manfred D. Laubichler of From Embryology to Evo-Devo: a History of Developmental Evolution (2007).