Article
Biology
Daniel Nunez-Leon, Gerardo A. Cordero, Xenia Schlindwein, Per Jensen, Esther Stoeckli, Marcelo R. Sanchez-Villagra, Ingmar Werneburg
Summary: The study found that early ontogeny remains highly conservative during the process of domestication evolution, while disproportionate limb growth in the latter part of development better explains the intense selection for industrial-scale production in the last 100 years.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2021)
Review
Anatomy & Morphology
Samantha R. Royle, Clifford J. Tabin, John J. Young
Summary: Before limbs or fins are able to grow, they must go through a specific design and initiation stage. This initiation phase involves designating a portion of lateral plate mesoderm as the future limb site, followed by a series of cellular and molecular events that shape the limb bud. Research has provided insight into how these events generate the limb bud and lead to variations in limb forms.
DEVELOPMENTAL DYNAMICS
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Chris J. Law
Summary: This study identified several key trends in the evolution of body shapes in carnivorans, including the relationship between intrafamilial variation and family clade age, the allometric effects of body size on body shape, and the contributions of the thoracic and lumbar regions and rib length to body shape variation. These findings provide insights into the morphological patterns that have led to increased diversity in carnivoran body shapes and highlight the similarities and differences in body shape diversity across vertebrates.
Article
Cell Biology
Axel H. Newton
Summary: Studies on vertebrates have provided important insights into craniofacial morphogenesis, but little is known about the patterning of distinct facial morphologies during development. Comparative models between related species, such as mammals, can help uncover the origin of species-specific patterning. The use of single-cell multi-omics techniques allows for detailed investigation into the cellular and molecular processes underlying craniofacial evolution.
FRONTIERS IN CELL AND DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biology
Steven Poe, Lorenzo A. H. Donald, Christopher Anderson
Summary: Adaptive radiations in Anolis lizards show a scarcity of theoretically plausible trait combinations, with selective forces potentially leading to the rarity of certain combinations. Differences in scale between inter- and intraspecific comparisons complicate the assessment of causes, but the absence of interspecific patterns at the intraspecific level suggests selection favoring specific trait combinations.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Carlos J. Pavon-Vazquez, Damien Esquerre, J. Scott Keogh
Summary: In this study, the researchers investigated the role of postnatal ontogenetic development in the morphological diversification of Paleoanguimorpha, a clade with extreme body size disparity. They found that heterochrony likely plays a major role in morphological divergence at shallow evolutionary scales, while changes in the magnitude and direction of ontogenetic change are mainly found between major clades. Some patterns of ontogenetic variation and morphological disparity appear to reflect ontogenetic transitions in habitat use. The study highlights the evolutionary lability and adaptability of postnatal ontogeny and how different evolutionary shifts in ontogeny contribute to the generation of morphological diversity at different evolutionary scales.
BMC ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2022)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Yury V. Malovichko, Anton E. Shikov, Anton A. Nizhnikov, Kirill S. Antonets
Summary: This study summarized existing data on seed development alterations in dicot plants, including genetic mutations and phenotypic differences caused by environmental influences. Several trends of timing alterations and potential ecological plasticity were identified based on the data provided.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Biology
Matthew L. Holding, Vivian C. Trevine, Oleksandr Zinenko, Jason L. Strickland, Rhett M. Rautsaw, Andrew J. Mason, Michael P. Hogan, Christopher L. Parkinson, Felipe G. Grazziotin, Sharlene E. Santana, Mark A. Davis, Darin R. Rokyta
Summary: Research shows that there is both phylogenetic signal and within-clade variation in relative fang length across viper species, indicating both general taxonomic trends and potential adaptive divergence. Longer fangs have evolved proportionally in larger species, potentially aiding in injecting venom into larger prey. By including temperature and diet data, models of fang length evolution can be improved, especially in relation to the extent to which diets are mammal-heavy.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Kjetil L. Voje, Michael A. Bell, Yoel E. Stuart
Summary: Allometric scaling describes the relationship between trait size and body size. Understanding the evolution of this relationship is important for understanding phenotypic diversification. A study on a fossil species of Threespine Stickleback found weak allometric relationships for armor traits and stronger relationships for non-armor traits. The changes in non-armor traits were small and fluctuating, but the allometric slopes remained strong predictors of the evolutionary trajectory of trait means over time, supporting the hypothesis of allometry as constraint.
JOURNAL OF EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Ralf F. Schneider, Helen M. Gunter, Inken Salewski, Joost M. Woltering, Axel Meyer
Summary: Evolutionary novelties can promote ecological specialization and adaptive radiations. Belonoid fishes, such as flying fishes, halfbeaks, and needlefishes, have highly diversified elongated jaw phenotypes. In this study, the development of elongated jaws in a halfbeak and a needlefish was investigated, revealing that these jaws consist of distinct base and extension portions. The growth dynamics of both bases and extensions were described, and the molecular mechanisms underlying the extension outgrowth were deduced.
Review
Biology
Stella Kyomen, Andrea P. Murillo-Rincon, Marketa Kaucka
Summary: Mammals show great variation in craniofacial morphology, which is a result of their adaptation to different ecological niches and lifestyles. The development of craniofacial structures occurs during embryonic development and is tightly regulated at various levels. Changes in timing, position, and concentration of molecular drivers can influence the final shape of the skull. Recent research has linked changes in developmental timing, spatial organization, and gene expression levels to species-specific skull morphologies in mammals. This review explores the evolutionary mechanisms of heterochrony, heterotopy, and heterometry and their effects on craniofacial development.
PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
C. D. Perl, Z. B. Johansen, V. W. Jie, Z. Moradinour, M. Guiraud, C. E. Restrepo, A. Miettinen, E. Baird
Summary: This study examined differences in organ scaling among colonies of bumblebees and found variations in scaling relationships, indicating potential trade-offs in morphological investment. Despite exposure to different rearing temperatures, environmental variability did not explain the differences in scaling relationships.
ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Biology
J. H. Arbour, A. A. Curtis, S. E. Santana
Summary: The study found that bats underwent profound adaptive divergences in skull shape during evolution, leading to significant changes in allometric relationships and modularity.
Article
Computer Science, Information Systems
Yajie Zhang, Ye Tian, Hao Jiang, Xingyi Zhang, Yaochu Jin
Summary: In recent years, solving constrained multiobjective optimization problems by introducing simple helper problems has become popular. This study provides a comprehensive overview of existing constrained multiobjective evolutionary algorithms and proposes a novel helper-problem-assisted CMOEA, which has shown competitive performance in experiments.
INFORMATION SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Nobuhide Shibusawa, Yoshie Endo, Naoki Morimoto, Ichiro Takahashi, Takashi Miura
Summary: The median palatal suture was narrower and had lower interdigitation amplitude compared with the sagittal suture in human bone specimens, with these differences also observed in neonates. However, such differences were not found in other animals such as chimpanzees and mice. Mathematical modeling identified bone differentiation threshold and growth speed as key factors contributing to the differences between palatal and sagittal sutures.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2021)
Article
Paleontology
Junya Watanabe, Hiroshige Matsuoka
JOURNAL OF VERTEBRATE PALEONTOLOGY
(2015)
Article
Anatomy & Morphology
Junya Watanabe
ANATOMICAL RECORD-ADVANCES IN INTEGRATIVE ANATOMY AND EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY
(2018)
Article
Ornithology
Junya Watanabe, Hiroshige Matsuoka, Yoshikazu Hasegawa
Article
Paleontology
Junya Watanabe, Hiroshige Matsuoka, Yoshikazu Hasegawa
ACTA PALAEONTOLOGICA POLONICA
(2018)
Article
Biology
Junya Watanabe, Hiroshige Matsuoka, Yoshikazu Hasegawa
HISTORICAL BIOLOGY
(2020)
Article
Paleontology
Junya Watanabe, Akihiro Koizumi, Ryohei Nakagawa, Keiichi Takahashi, Takeshi Tanaka, Hiroshige Matsuoka
JOURNAL OF VERTEBRATE PALEONTOLOGY
(2019)
Article
Ecology
Junya Watanabe
Summary: Trait covariation analysis is crucial in phenotypic evolution studies, with statistics based on eigenvalue dispersion indices used to quantify the magnitude of covariation. This study clarifies the statistical justifications and sampling properties of these indices, showing that they can provide accurate approximations with moderate sample sizes. Importantly, these indices can be applied effectively in high-dimensional phenotypic analyses and with appropriate modifications for shape variables and phylogenetically structured data.
Article
Biology
Junya Watanabe
Summary: Theory predicts that the G matrix determines a population's evolvability to respond to selection, which is typically quantified via scalar indices called evolvability measures. This study presents new exact expressions for several average evolvability measures, using their mathematical structures as ratios of quadratic forms. These expressions are infinite series involving zonal and invariant polynomials and can be numerically evaluated with known error bounds.
JOURNAL OF MATHEMATICAL BIOLOGY
(2023)
Review
Biology
Junya Watanabe
Summary: This study provides a brief overview on the geometric and statistical aspects of angles in multidimensional spaces, which can serve as baselines for biologists to make statistically justified inferences for (non)parallel evolution.
Article
Biology
Junya Watanabe, Daniel J. Field, Hiroshige Matsuoka
Summary: Through anatomical reconstructions of two extinct flightless auks, researchers found that these birds exhibited similar functional specializations in their wings as penguins, but at lower levels of anatomical organization they differed, resembling their respective group's close relatives.
INTEGRATIVE ORGANISMAL BIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Ornithology
Junya Watanabe
Article
Paleontology
Gary Kaiser, Junya Watanabe, Marji Johns
PALAEONTOLOGIA ELECTRONICA
(2015)
Article
Biology
Junya Watanabe, Daniel J. Field, Hiroshige Matsuoka
INTEGRATIVE ORGANISMAL BIOLOGY
(2020)