PRUM, R. O. ; University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS: Mechanisms of Innovation in Evolution of Feathers Feathers are complex integumentary appendages with extraordinary diversity in structure and function. Recent research into the hierarchical and modular nature of feather development and morphology provides new perspectives on the mechanisms of innovation in feather evolution. Feather development and […]

JERNVALL, J.; Univ. of Helsinki, Finland: Mammalian teeth: Grinding innovation The mammalian fossil record, dominated by durable teeth, is relatively complete when compared to other vertebrate groups. Particularly cheek tooth, or molar morphology has played a central role in paleoecological reconstructions. These data have allowed appraisals of the frequency and environmental context in which dental […]

NEWMAN, S.A.; New York Medical College: Interplay between Genetic and Physical Mechanisms in Morphological Innovation Living tissues are chemically active, viscoelastic materials. This implies that the forms they assume are determined, in part, by mechanical, mechanochemical, and other physical processes. It is proposed that at early stages in the evolution of body plans and organ […]

M�LLER, G.B.; University of Vienna: Innovation in Development and Evolution Organismal evolution proceeds by a two-stage process: the initial generation of heritable phenotypic differences and the adaptive variation and fixation of these differences in a population. Over many decades evolutionary theory has almost exclusively focused on the latter, variation of characters that already exist, blackboxing […]

CEBRA-THOMAS, J*A*; TAN, F. E.; GILBERT, S. F.; Swarthmore College; Swarthmore College; Swarthmore College: How the Turtle Gets its Shell: A Provisional Outline The turtle shell is a morphological innovation that is the basal synapomorphy for the Chelonian clade. In forming the shell, normal vertebrate development is altered and fifty novel bones are produced. Recent […]

JABLONSKI, D.; Univ. of Chicago: Evolutionary Innovations in the Fossil Record: Patterns in time and space The origin of evolutionary innovations has been intensively studied, but relatively little is known about ecological and biogeographic patterns in the first occurrences of major groups or innovations. In post-Paleozoic marine fossil record, new orders do not originate randomly […]

FELIX, M.-A.; Institut Jacques Monod, CNRS: Evolution of nematode vulva development The nematode vulva is formed by precursors in the ventral epithelium, called Pn.p cells. Each Pn.p cell has a specific fate, determined in Caenorhabditis elegans by an inductive signal from the gonadal anchor cell and a lateral signal between the Pn.p cells. The Pn.p […]

MINELLI, A.; Univ. of Padova: Conserved vs. innovative features in animal body organization A search for the origin of structural innovations is better placed within evolutionary developmental biology rather than in the study of phylogeny or adaptation. Cladistics provides methods for distinguishing plesiomorphic from apomorphic features, but the apomorphies most reliably used in cladistic reconstruction […]

ANGIELCZYK, K.D.; California Academy of Sciences: What is the role of stratigraphic data in phylogeny reconstruction? The inclusion of stratigraphic data in phylogeny reconstruction is a contentious issue in paleontology, but most of this debate has focused on whether stratigraphic data should be included in phylogenetic analyses. The question of why we might want to […]

ALROY, J.; University of California: Reconstructing sequences of speciation and extinction events in the fossil record Paleontology has long offered three main products to the larger scientific community: the reconstruction of ancient environments; the morphology and relationships of primitive organisms; and the age of biotic events, which can constrain the ages of sedimentary rocks. Traditionally, […]