EDSINGER GONZALES, Eric; VAN DEN BIGGELAAR, Jo; University of Utrecht: The spiralian developmental organizer and the evolution of animal design Disparity in animal design is enigmatic, as the fossil record has failed to produce transitional forms linking the major metazoan clades. Development of the adult body plan in taxa as divergent as cnidarians, chordates and […]

SEAVER, Elaine C.; KANESHIGE, Lori M.; MAKAGON, Maja B.; SCHWAB, Rachel L.; University of Hawaii; University of Hawaii; University of Hawaii; University of Hawaii: The expression of �segmentation� genes in polychaete annelids Historically, annelids and arthropods were thought to share a common segmented ancestor. Spatio-temporal patterns of gene expression of genes underlying the segmentation process […]

PRIMUS, A.E.; University of Texas, Austin: Regional specification in the early embryo of the brittle star Ophiopholis aculeate A fate map has been constructed for the embryo of O. aculeate. The vegetal pole of the egg is the site of gastrulation and gives rise to larval mesoderm and endoderm. The first cleavage plane bisects the […]

MINSUK, S.B.*; RAFF, E.C.; RAFF, R.A.; Indiana University, Bloomington: Hen’s Teeth and Sea Urchin’s Toes How are developmental processes transformed in evolution? The direct-developing sea urchin Heliocidaris erythrogramma (H.e.) has a radically different larval morphology from that of the indirect-developing H. tuberculata (H.t.) and their common ancestors, reflecting losses, gains, and transformations throughout ontogeny. By […]

SWALLA, B.J.; University of Washington, Seattle: Evolution of the Chordates: Worms or Squirts? The Deuterostomia are a monophyletic group of animals that diverged from the Ecdysozoa and Lophotrochozoa some time before the Cambrian period, as all of the four major clades of deuterostomes are present in the Cambrian fauna. The four major clades of deuterostomes […]

CHIPMAN, A.D.; University of Cambridge, UK: Early development and segmentation in the centipede Strigamia maritima Early development in arthropods encompasses the crucial stages wherein the body plan is defined and the segmental organization of the body axis is laid out. However, these crucial stages have only been studied in a limited range of arthropods, leaving […]

MATUS, D.Q.; HALANYCH, K.M.; MARTINDALE, M.Q.; Univ. of Hawaii at Manoa; Auburn University; Univ. of Hawaii at Manoa: Axial Patterning in Chaetognaths: An Evo-Devo Look at an Enigmatic Phylum We are interested in the evolution of axial patterning (anterior-posterior & dorsoventral) and body plan formation throughout the Metazoa. We have used PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) […]

ELLIOTT, JK*; CHAMBERS, R; MCKINLEY, M; YOUNG, E; University of Puget Sound, Tacoma: The influence of predation on the distribution and abundance of an introduced mussel Introduced species are considered to be one of the largest threats to biodiversity in marine ecosystems because they can displace and/or hybridize with native species, and significantly alter food […]

WOLF, B. O.; MCKECHNIE, A. E.; WARNE, R. ; MATHIASEN, C.; Univ. of New Mexico; Univ. of Witwatersrand; Univ. of New Mexico; Univ. of New Mexico: The functional importance of columnar cacti as resources for a desert bird community; an assessment using stable isotopes Columnar cacti are prominent features of arid and semi-arid ecosystems in […]

MEYER, J* J; BYERS, J E; University of New Hampshire; University of New Hampshire: Sublethal predation facilitates lethal predation: consequences of siphon cropping on two intertidal bivlave species In soft-sediment marine communities, fishes often crop the extended feeding siphons of buried clams. This potentially causes clams to reduce their burial depth thereby enhancing their susceptibility […]