From Clone to Bone: The Synergy of Morphological and Molecular Tools in Palaeobiology (Cambridge Studies in Morphology and Molecules: New Paradigms in Evolutionary Bio)

EAN: 9780521176767
Published: 18/10/2012
Language: English

Since the 1980s, a renewed understanding of molecular development has afforded an unprecedented level of knowledge of the mechanisms by which phenotype in animals and plants has evolved. In this volume, top scientists in these fields provide perspectives on how molecular data in biology help to elucidate key questions in estimating paleontological divergence and in understanding the mechanisms behind phenotypic evolution. Paleobiological questions such as genome size, digit homologies, genetic control cascades behind phenotype, estimates of vertebrate divergence dates, and rates of morphological evolution are addressed, with a special emphasis on how molecular biology can inform paleontology, directly and indirectly, to better understand life's past. Highlighting a significant shift towards interdisciplinary collaboration, this is a valuable resource for students and researchers interested in the integration of organismal and molecular biology.

List of contributors
1. Molecular tools in paleobiology
divergence and mechanisms Robert J. Asher and Johannes Müller
Part I. Divergence
2. Genomics and the lost world
paleontological insights into genome evolution Chris Organ
3. Rocking clocks and clocking rocks
a critical look at divergence time estimation in mammals Olaf R. P. Bininda-Emonds, Robin M. D. Beck and Ross D. E. MacPhee
4. Morphological largess
can morphology offer more and be modeled as a stochastic evolutionary process? Hans C. E. Larsson, T. Alexander Dececchi and Luke B. Harrison
5. Species selection in the molecular age Carl Simpson and Johannes Müller
Part II. Mechanisms
6. Reconstructing the molecular underpinnings of morphological diversification
a case study of the Triassic fish Saurichthys Leonhard Schmid
7. A molecular guide to regulation of morphological pattern in the vertebrate dentition and the evolution of dental development Moya Smith and Zerina Johanson
8. Molecular biology of the mammalian dentary
insights into how complex skeletal elements can be shaped during development and evolution Neal Anthwal and Abigail S. Tucker
9. Flexibility and constraint
patterning the axial skeleton in mammals Emily A. Buchholtz
10. Molecular determinants of marsupial limb integration and constraint Karen E. Sears, Carolyn K. Doroba, Xiaoyi Cao, Dan Xie and Sheng Zhong
11. A developmental basis for innovative evolution of the turtle shell Shigeru Kuratani and Hiroshi Nagashima
12. A molecular-morphological study of a peculiar limb morphology
the development and evolution of the mole's 'thumb' Christian Mitgutsch, Michael K. Richardson, Merijn A. G. de Bakker, Rafael Jiménez, José Ezequiel Martín, Peter Kondrashov and Marcelo R. Sánchez-Villagra
13. Manus horribilis
the chicken wing skeleton Michael K. Richardson
Index.