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Evidence for evolutionary changes in ontogeny: Paleontological, comparative-morphological, and molecular aspects

  • Developmental Biology
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Abstract

It has been noted that the integration of modern data of paleontology, comparative morphology, developmental biology, and molecular genetics forms the basis for understanding the mechanisms of evolutionary transformations of ontogeny. Paleontological and morphological evidence of the evolutionary changes in ontogeny are considered based on the data of cell and molecular biology and developmental genetics. It is shown that reorganizations of gene regulatory cascades (mainly Hox genes) play a key role in the evolution of the axial organization of animals and modifications of the limb structure of metazoans, whereas the formation of new types of structures was apparently determined by the emergence of new populations of stem cells in embryogenesis (for example, neural crest cells in the evolution of vertebrates).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences, Leninskii pr. 33, Moscow, 119071, Russia

    V. V. Isaeva

  2. Zhirmunskii Institute of Marine Biology, Far East Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, ul. Pal’chevskogo 17, Vladivostok, 690041, Russia

    V. V. Isaeva

  3. Kol’tsov Institute of Developmental Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences, ul. Vavilova 26, Moscow, 119334, Russia

    N. D. Ozernyuk

  4. Borisyak Paleontological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Profsoyuznaya ul. 123, Moscow, 117997, Russia

    S. V. Rozhnov

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Original Russian Text © V.V. Isaeva, N.D. Ozernyuk, S.V. Rozhnov, 2013, published in Izvestiya Akademii Nauk, Seriya Biologicheskaya, 2013, No. 3, pp. 273–283.

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Isaeva, V.V., Ozernyuk, N.D. & Rozhnov, S.V. Evidence for evolutionary changes in ontogeny: Paleontological, comparative-morphological, and molecular aspects. Biol Bull Russ Acad Sci 40, 243–252 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1062359013030047

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