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Competition among body parts in the development and evolution of insect morphology.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Nijhout, HF; Emlen, DJ
Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
March 1998

Changes in form during ontogeny and evolution depend in large measure on changes in the relative growth of the various parts of the body. The current consensus in developmental biology is that the final size of appendages and internal organs is regulated autonomously, within the structure itself. Size regulation of body parts typically requires no external control and is thought to be relatively insensitive to signals from the developmental environment. We show in two very different systems, butterfly wings and beetle horns, that experimentally induced changes in the allocation of developmental resources to one trait produces compensatory changes in the relative sizes of other traits. These findings illustrate that interaction among body parts in development is part of the mechanism of size regulation of those parts. Furthermore, in the case of beetle horns, we show that the tradeoff in size is manifest as a significant negative genetic correlation among the involved body parts and, therefore, constitutes a developmental source of genetic constraint on the evolution of body form.

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Published In

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

DOI

EISSN

1091-6490

ISSN

0027-8424

Publication Date

March 1998

Volume

95

Issue

7

Start / End Page

3685 / 3689

Related Subject Headings

  • Models, Theoretical
  • Models, Biological
  • Insecta
  • Body Patterning
  • Biological Evolution
  • Animals
 

Citation

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Nijhout, H. F., & Emlen, D. J. (1998). Competition among body parts in the development and evolution of insect morphology. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 95(7), 3685–3689. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.95.7.3685
Nijhout, H. F., and D. J. Emlen. “Competition among body parts in the development and evolution of insect morphology.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 95, no. 7 (March 1998): 3685–89. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.95.7.3685.
Nijhout HF, Emlen DJ. Competition among body parts in the development and evolution of insect morphology. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 1998 Mar;95(7):3685–9.
Nijhout, H. F., and D. J. Emlen. “Competition among body parts in the development and evolution of insect morphology.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 95, no. 7, Mar. 1998, pp. 3685–89. Epmc, doi:10.1073/pnas.95.7.3685.
Nijhout HF, Emlen DJ. Competition among body parts in the development and evolution of insect morphology. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 1998 Mar;95(7):3685–3689.
Journal cover image

Published In

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

DOI

EISSN

1091-6490

ISSN

0027-8424

Publication Date

March 1998

Volume

95

Issue

7

Start / End Page

3685 / 3689

Related Subject Headings

  • Models, Theoretical
  • Models, Biological
  • Insecta
  • Body Patterning
  • Biological Evolution
  • Animals