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INSIGHTS INTO THE PAST. "When seen from the perspective of closely related lineages (e.g., humans and apes) and their extinct common ancestors, these features tell us not only about extant taxa. They can also reveal important lessons about their history." https://evolution-outreach.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s12052-014-0012-5 View in LinkedIn

RETAINED FORMS. "A similar example comes from the origin of mammary glands as derived sweat glands. Even sexual dimorphism in body form and size can, in many lineages, represent retention of former evolutionary and developmental conditions." https://evolution-outreach.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s12052-014-0012-5 View in LinkedIn

EVOLUTION-DEVELOPMENT FORCES. "The joint evo-devo changes of these structures in mammals (where they are still functional, but with a new function), as well as in extant reptiles that have also evolved from the common ancestor with mammals, provide much evidence as to joint ontogenetic and phylogenetic transformation." https://evolution-outreach.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s12052-014-0012-5 View in LinkedIn

MIDDLE EAR. "One of the best examples of such a major remnant of evolutionary and developmental history involves the mammalian middle ear ossicles (the malleus, incus, and stapes bones), all of which are derived from jaw bones of ancestral reptiles but which now play a key role in hearing by amplifying sounds." https://evolution-outreach.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s12052-014-0012-5 View in LinkedIn

DIVERGENT LINEAGES: "not merely phyletic but phylogenetic (literally, referring to the origin of a new phylum or major taxon)—reveals a history that can be concurrently approached from two directions, as each clade relates to the other and as both depart from their common ancestor, best studied as corresponding divergences of developmental programs." https://evolution-outreach.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s12052-014-0012-5 View in LinkedIn

ATAVISM. "Whereas the compound atavistic and homologous clues can be seen as revealing historical changes within a single evolutionary lineage, others are best viewed through the prism of divergent lineages." https://evolution-outreach.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s12052-014-0012-5 View in LinkedIn

OVERLAID STRUCTURES. "In development as in evolution, the basic outline is not always erased, and tantalizing residues or traces of earlier forms often remain visible even in later stages of evolution and development." https://evolution-outreach.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s12052-014-0012-5 View in LinkedIn

DYNAMIC EVO-DEVO. "Vestiges are not mere curiosities or footnotes. As the above examples show, they, along with many other historical holdovers, reveal the dynamic interplay between evolution and development. More than that, such remnants help us to see the distinction between these related and highly similar yet discrete processes." https://evolution-outreach.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s12052-014-0012-5 View in LinkedIn

CENTRALITY OF MOSAICISM. "There is no doubt that early embryos resemble each other more closely than do late-stage embryos (von Baer’s Law). This is not surprising given the centrality of mosaicism in evolutionary and developmental change, with a basic framework of ancestral, plesiomorphic features that is later supplanted or overlain by derived apomorphies." https://evolution-outreach.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s12052-014-0012-5 View in LinkedIn

STASIS NOT CHANGE. "Paedomorphosis, the retention of ‘child-like’ larval or juvenile forms (like the external filamentous gills of aquatic salamanders), is yet another way in which organismal features are retained rather than changed, and another way in which the interactions of phylogeny and ontogeny are reflected in their mutual history." https://evolution-outreach.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s12052-014-0012-5 View in LinkedIn