title: Organogenesis in deep time: A problem in genomics, development, and paleontology.
abstract: The fossil record is a unique repository of information on major morphological transitions. Increasingly, developmental, embryological, and functional genomic approaches have also conspired to reveal evolutionary trajectory of phenotypic shifts. Here, we use the vertebrate appendage to demonstrate how these disciplines can mutually reinforce each other to facilitate the generation and testing of hypotheses of morphological evolution. We discuss classical theories on the origins of paired fins, recent data on regulatory modulations of fish fins and tetrapod limbs, and case studies exploring the mechanisms of digit loss in tetrapods. We envision an era of research in which the deep history of morphological evolution can be revealed by integrating fossils of transitional forms with direct experimentation in the laboratory via genome manipulation, thereby shedding light on the relationship between genes, developmental processes, and the evolving phenotype.
authors.affiliation: Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637; and.
authors.forename: Joyce
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pieretti
authors.affiliation: Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637; and.
authors.forename: Andrew R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Gehrke
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Ciencias Biologicas, Universidade Federal do Para, 66075, Belem, Brazil.
authors.forename: Igor
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Schneider
authors.affiliation: Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637; and.
authors.forename: Noritaka
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Adachi
authors.affiliation: Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637; and.
authors.forename: Tetsuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.affiliation: Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637; and nshubin@uchicago.edu.
authors.forename: Neil H
authors.initials: NH
authors.lastname: Shubin
mesh_terms: D058500:Animal Fins / Q000196:embryology; D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D047108:Embryonic Development; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic; D005121:Extremities / Q000196:embryology; D023281:Genomics; D038081:Organogenesis / Q000235:genetics*; D010163:Paleontology; D010641:Phenotype; D013997:Time Factors; D014714:Vertebrates / Q000196:embryology
keywords: development; evolution; fossil record; genomics; limb