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Title: The Shape of Life: Genes, Development, and the Evolution of Animal Form by Rudolf A. Raff ISBN: 0-226-70266-9 Publisher: University of Chicago Press Pub. Date: May, 1996 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $30.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 5 (5 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: The persistence of basic animal body plans
Comment: This is a compelling gateway to a new perspective on evolution from the emerging developmental perspective. As the author notes at the beginning, the basic animal body plans are half a billion years old. With that the book embarks on a fascinating exploration of the relationship of evolution to development and in the process shows how our understanding, in the age of hox genes, is undergoing rapid transformation. Very interesting work indeed.
Rating: 5
Summary: A Great Introduction to the Synthesis of Development and Evo
Comment: Why have no new phyla emerged since the Ordovician, even after tremendous mass extinctions such as the end Permian, or when life radiated onto land, an entirely new ecological niche? Why have metazoan "body plans" been conserved since the Cambrian, even while vast amounts of morphological change has occurred within the phyla? Do developmental constraints explain this, and if so, what types of constraints? Are the arthropods monophyletic, or not? What are the developmental bases of body-plan structure, how do developmental processes shape morphology? What do new genetic data tell us about phylogenetic relationships between phyla?
These are all questions I had formulated before reading this book. Some of these questions now have good answers, and others remain obscure. Raff does a good job summarizing what is known about these and other questions. Its now obvious that knowledge of developmental processes will answer, at least partially, some long standing evolutionary questions.
Also recommended is "Genes, Embryos, and Evolution," which covers much of the same territory, but is slight more up to date and includes some excellent color plates. As a lighter read, I would recommend Simon Conway Morris' book "The Crucible of Creation," which covers the early metazoan fossil record, and discusses some very tantalizing evidence for inter-phylum evolution from Ediacaran and early Cambrian fossils.
Rating: 5
Summary: Evolutionary development biology of metazoa
Comment: This is a solid book on evolutionary developmental biology of the metazoa, suitable for the interested general reader as well as the scientific reader. A thorough set of references are provided at the end of the book.
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