Understanding Evo-Devo

A brief and accessible account of the new interdisciplinary science of evo-devo for a general audience.

Wallace Arthur (Author)

9781108819466, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 27 May 2021

206 pages
17.8 x 12.7 x 1.1 cm, 0.24 kg

'Occasionally I feel that the field of Evolution and Development has lost its way, becoming submerged in myriad examples and details that don't expand our understanding of life. Wallace's book expounds the intellectual underpinnings of Evolution and Development, leads us through the key questions, and finally shows how the details and examples inform our future understanding. This book provides not just a guide to Evolution and Development, but also a spur to refocus and redouble our efforts to use development to help understand the evolution of life on Earth.' Peter Dearden, University of Otago, New Zealand

Why do the best-known examples of evolutionary change involve the alteration of one kind of animal into another very similar one, like the evolution of a bigger beak in a bird? Wouldn't it be much more interesting to understand how beaks originated? Most people would agree, but until recently we didn't know much about such origins. That is now changing, with the growth of the interdisciplinary field evo-devo, which deals with the relationship between how embryos develop in the short term and how they (and the adults they grow into) evolve in the long term. One of the key questions is: can the origins of structures such as beaks, eyes, and shells be explained within a Darwinian framework? The answer seems to be yes, but only by expanding that framework. This book discusses the required expansion, and the current state of play regarding our understanding of evolutionary and developmental origins.

Preface
Acknowledgements
1. What is evo-devo and why is it important?
2. Antecedents of evo-devo
3. Evolutionary and developmental essentials
4. Evo-devo essentials
5. The evolution of variations on a theme
6. The evolutionary origins of themes and novelties
7. The evolutionary origins of body plans
8. Body plan features and toolkit genes
9. Bringing it all together
Concluding remarks
Summary of common misunderstandings
References
Index.

Subject Areas: Cellular biology [cytology PSF], Molecular biology [PSD], Developmental biology [PSC], Genetics [non-medical PSAK], Evolution [PSAJ], History of science [PDX], Philosophy of science [PDA]