Evolutionary developmental biology, also known as evo-devo or EDB, seeks                  to find links between development and evolution by opening the "black box" of                  development's role in evolution and in the evolution of developmental mechanisms. In                  particular, this volume emphasizes the roles of the environment and of hormonal                  signaling in evo-devo. It brings together a group of leading researchers to analyze                  the dynamic interaction of environmental factors with developmental and                  physiological processes and to examine how environmental signals are translated into                  phenotypic change, from the molecular and cellular level to organisms and groups of                  organisms. Taken together, these chapters demonstrate the crucial roles of those                  processes of genetic, developmental, physiological, and hormonal change that                  underpin evolutionary change in development, morphology, physiology, behavior, and                  life-history.Part I investigates links between environmental signals and                  developmental processes that could be preserved over evolutionary time. Several                  contributors evaluate the work of the late Ryuichi Matsuda, especially his emphasis                  on the role of the external environment in genetic change and variability                  ("pan-environmentalism"). Other contributors in part I analyze different aspects of                  environmental-genetic-evolutionary linkages, including the importance of alternate                  ontogenies in evolution and the paradox of stability over long periods of                  evolutionary time. Part II examines the plasticity that characterizes much of                  development, with contributors discussing such topics as gene regulatory networks                  and heterochronicity. Part III analyzes the role of hormones and metamorphosis in                  the evolution of such organisms with alternate life-history stages as lampreys,                  amphibians, and insects.

Environment, Development, and Evolution: Toward a Synthesis (Vienna Series in Theoretical Biology) PDF

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