From plasticity to diversity: accommodation of ancestral plasticity results in divergent developmental rates in spadefoot toads

by Ivan Gomez-Mestre

“A plausible argument could be made that evolution is the control of development by ecology” Van Valen, 1973 During development, organisms use hereditary information, together with cues from the internal and external environment, to produce their phenotype. I use the term hereditary information purposefully because research in the last two decades has shown that

The evolution of anti-teaching

by James Allen

In 1921 a British tit was observed opening a milk-bottle to eat the cream inside, and over the next 26 years this unique innovation spread to over 30 different sites. As just one example out of hundreds, this shows how animal populations contain a mixture of innovation and learning, with novel behaviors discovered, developed and

Maternally transmitted dung beetle microbiota are species-specific, and impact host development across generations

by Erik S Parker & Armin P Moczek

Much of evolutionary biology is motivated by one basic question: what determines biological diversity? Traditional explanations emphasize the role of natural selection acting on variation among the individuals that make up a population, sorting them into fit and less fit versions, thereby creating adaptation and diversification across generations. However, recent advances in the study of

Workshop report: Developmental Biases in Evolution

by Wim Hordijk

“Developmental bias is a manifestation of a much more fundamental principle, and is the norm rather than the exception”, according to one scientist. “Developmental bias is a misleading term and we should get rid of it”, according to another. Both were in the same room, at the same time. So what is developmental bias, what

Darwin 1.0: Is the EES playing catch-up?

by Ben Bradley

A consequence of the gene-centric view of evolution we call the Modern Synthesis (MS) is to foster a severe constriction in scientists’ understandings of Darwin. Despite Darwin’s original treatment of evolution being enormously rich, he becomes the purveyor of just one dangerous idea: evolution by natural selection – the idea which, when modified by the

Talking Evolution workshop report

by Dominik W Schmid & Katrina J Falkenberg

In the last week of September, the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology in Plön, Germany, hosted a workshop entitled Talking Evolution. Key topics discussed were niche construction, phenotypic plasticity, developmental bias, and extra-genetic inheritance. The workshop was organized by Noémie Erin, Alice Feurtey, Vandana Venkateswaran and Dominik Schmid, four early career researchers, and Maren

Physical mechanisms of development and evolution: An interview with Stuart Newman

by Stuart A Newman & Katrina J Falkenberg

Stuart Newman is a Professor of Cell Biology and Anatomy at the New York Medical College in Valhalla, New York. He is a prominent evolutionary developmental biologist, well known for his pioneering work on vertebrate limb development and the role of physical mechanisms in development and morphological evolution. Katrina Falkenberg is the science communication and

Synergistic Selection and the Self-Made Man

by Peter A Corning

Part I: ‘Synergistic Selection’: It could be called Holistic Darwinism The word “Synergy” is only vaguely familiar to many of us. Perhaps we associate it with corporate mergers, or drug interactions, or some other commonplace usage. In fact, synergy is a ubiquitous phenomenon. It is literally everywhere around us, and it represents one of

Ancestral plasticity paves the way for evolutionary novelty in spadefoot toads

by Nicholas A Levis

The question, “Where do new traits come from?” has long puzzled evolutionary biologists. New traits are often assumed to arise exclusively from genetic changes – including, but not limited to, mutations in regulatory sequences or gene bodies, inversions, and gene (or genome) duplications. Mary Jane West-Eberhard formalized a hypothesis in which the evolution of novelty

The unlikely but fruitful waltz of a curious couple: Phenotypic plasticity and learning theory

by Miguel Brun-Usan

When the Modern Synthesis was put together in the early decades of the twentieth century, natural selection became the obvious focus of evolutionary thought. Although this focus has increased our understanding of biological evolution by orders of magnitude, it tells us little about how phenotypic variation is produced. Variation – the third evolutionary pillar envisioned