CONSTRAINTS ON MAMMALIAN FORELIMB DEVELOPMENT: INSIGHTS FROM DEVELOPMENTAL DISPARITY

Tetrapod limb development has been studied extensively for decades, yet the strength and role of developmental constraints in this process remains unresolved. Mammals exhibit a particularly wide array of limb morphologies associated with various locomotion modes and behaviors, providing a useful sys...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Evolution 2013-12, Vol.67 (12), p.3645-3652
Main Authors: Ross, Darcy, Marcot, Jonathan D., Betteridge, Keith J., Nascone-Yoder, Nanette, Bailey, C. Scott, Sears, Karen E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal morphology
Animals
BRIEF COMMUNICATION
Constraints
diversity
Embryos
Evolution
Evolution, Molecular
Forelimb - anatomy & histology
Forelimb - embryology
Forelimbs
Horses
Horses - embryology
Horses - genetics
Landmarks
limb
Limb buds
mammal
Mammals
Mice - embryology
Mice - genetics
Morphology
morphometrics
ontogeny
Opossums
Opossums - embryology
Opossums - genetics
Regression analysis
Swine
Swine - embryology
Swine - genetics
Tissues
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Summary:Tetrapod limb development has been studied extensively for decades, yet the strength and role of developmental constraints in this process remains unresolved. Mammals exhibit a particularly wide array of limb morphologies associated with various locomotion modes and behaviors, providing a useful system for identifying periods of developmental constraint and conserved developmental mechanisms or morphologies. In this study, landmark-based geometric morphometrics are used to investigate levels and patterns of morphological diversity (disparity) among the developing forelimbs of four mammals with diverse limb morphologies: mice, opossums, horses, and pigs. Results indicate that disparity among the forelimbs of these species slightly decreases or stays the same from the appearance of the limb ridge to the bud stage, and increases dramatically from the paddle through tissue regression stages. Heterochrony exhibited by the precocial opossum limb was not found to drive these patterns of morphological disparity, suggesting that the low disparity of the middle stages of limb development (e.g., paddle stage) is driven by processes operating within the limb and is likely not a result of embryo-wide constraint.
ISSN:0014-3820
1558-5646
DOI:10.1111/evo.12204