Search results for "Evo-devo"
showing 6 items of 6 documents
Radial Symmetry, the Anterior/Posterior Axis, and Echinoderm Hox Genes
2008
20 pages; International audience; The strangeness of echinoderm pentaradiality results from superposition of radial symmetry onto ancestral deuterostome bilaterality. The Extraxial- Axial Theory shows that echinoderms also have an anterior/posterior (A/P) axis developed independently and ontogenetically before radiality. The A/P axis is first established via coelomic stacking in the extraxial region, with ensuing development of the pentamerous hydrocoel in the axial region. This is strongly correlated with a variety of gene expression patterns. The echinoid Hox cluster is disordered into two different sets of genes. During embryogenesis, members of the posterior class demonstrate temporal, …
Evolutionary and developmental hypotheses in rodent dentition through time : the adaptive radiation of Arvicolinae (Rodentia)
2014
The evolution of mammalian dentition is defined by profound morphological modifications as occlusion and heterodonty. Among rodents, characterized by a reduced dental formula, arvicolines have a highly derived dentition, with prismatic and hypsodont molars. The aim of this Ph.D thesis is to explore various morphological innovations through developmental and adaptive aspects. Geometric morphometric methods were used on molars, incisors and mandibles to investigate the dynamics of development and evolution of dentition. A developmental model predicting molar proportions is tested and confirmed for the rodent order; it could be also extended to the premolar. The relationship between dental mor…
Next stop: Language : the ?FOXP2? gene?s journey through time
2016
How did humans evolve language? The fossil record does not yield enough evidence to reconstruct its evolution and animals do not talk. But as the neural and molecular substrates of language are uncovered, their genesis and function can be addressed comparatively in other species. FOXP2 is such a case – a gene with a strong link to language that is also essential for learning in mice, birds and even flies. Comparing the role FOXP2 plays in humans and other animals is starting to reveal common principles that may have provided building blocks for language evolution.
Evolutionary Analysis of DELLA-Associated Transcriptional Networks
2017
DELLA proteins are transcriptional regulators present in all land plants which have been shown to modulate the activity of over 100 transcription factors in Arabidopsis, involved in multiple physiological and developmental processes. It has been proposed that DELLAs transduce environmental information to pre-wired transcriptional circuits because their stability is regulated by gibberellins (GAs), whose homeostasis largely depends on environmental signals. The ability of GAs to promote DELLA degradation coincides with the origin of vascular plants, but the presence of DELLAs in other land plants poses at least two questions: what regulatory properties have DELLAs provided to the behavior of…
Evolution of mammal tooth patterns: new insights from a developmental prediction model.
2009
14 pages.; International audience; The study of mammalian evolution is often based on insights into the evolution of teeth. Developmental studies may attempt to address the mechanisms that guide evolutionary changes. One example is the new developmental model proposed by Kavanagh et al. (2007), which provides a high-level testable model to predict mammalian tooth evolution. It is constructed on an inhibitory cascade model based on a dynamic balance of activators and inhibitors, regulating differences in molar size along the lower dental row. Nevertheless, molar sizes in some mammals differ from this inhibitory cascade model, in particular in voles. The aim of this study is to point out arvi…
Fantastic morphologies: animal form between mythology and Evo-Devo
2020
Since ancient times, man has shown a genuine passion for the recombination of visual elements in unusual and extraordinary forms; but, if the ancients admitted the existence of mythological creatures, today we are fully aware that their existence is limited to the ontological domain of the “merely thinkable” because imaginary beings are irreconcilable with physical and biological laws. In this article I try to elucidate what differentiates from a morphological point of view the imaginary beings described by the pens of poets (such as Sphinx, mermaids and centaurs) from bizarre but existing animals (i.e. the small South American Axolotl, the Yeti Crab, etc.) or from some specimens belonging …