Document Type
Article
Publication Date
11-18-2021
Publication Title
Ecology and Evolution
Volume
11
Issue
22
Pages
15484-15497
Publisher Name
John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Abstract
Appendages have been reduced or lost hundreds of times during vertebrate evolution. This phenotypic convergence may be underlain by shared or different molecular mechanisms in distantly related vertebrate clades. To investigate, we reviewed the developmental and evolutionary literature of appendage reduction and loss in more than a dozen vertebrate genera from fish to mammals. We found that appendage reduction and loss was nearly always driven by modified gene expression as opposed to changes in coding sequences. Moreover, expression of the same genes was repeatedly modified across vertebrate taxa. However, the specific mechanisms by which expression was modified were rarely shared. The multiple routes to appendage reduction and loss suggest that adaptive loss of function phenotypes might arise routinely through changes in expression of key developmental genes.
Recommended Citation
Swank, Samantha; Sanger, Thomas; and Stuart, Yoel E.. (Non)Parallel Developmental Mechanisms in Vertebrate Appendage Reduction and Loss. Ecology and Evolution, 11, 22: 15484-15497, 2021. Retrieved from Loyola eCommons, Biology: Faculty Publications and Other Works, http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.8226
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Copyright Statement
© The Authors, 2021.
Included in
Biology Commons, Developmental Biology Commons, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Commons
Comments
Author Posting © The Authors, 2021. This article is posted here by permission of John Wiley & Sons Ltd. for personal use and redistribution. This article was published open access in Ecology and Evolution, VOL.11, ISS.22, November 18, 2021, https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.8226