Publisher's Synopsis
Studies of the evolution of plants and animals have, for more than half a century, focused on the dual roles of genetics and natural selection. How a genetic mutation actually produces the variations in shape and size of an organism has, up until now, not been fully addressed. Recent studies have shown that relative changes in the rates and timing of growth during ontogeny, known as heterochrony, play a significant, and much underrated, role in evolution.;In this book, biologists, palaeontologists and anthropologists present overviews of current activity in heterochrony in their disciplines. Perspectives covered include molecular biology, cell biology, palaeontology, macroevolution, speciation, ecology, sexual selection and behaviour in both extinct and living organisms. Looking at the theoretical aspects of heterochrony as the principal factor in ontogenetic evolution, the book goes on to illustrate how evolution in many groups of animals and plants is a function of the evolution of organisms' ontogenies. Finally, it focuses on the interplay between heterochrony and ecological factors, demonstrating the complex interactions between organisms' ontogenies and the environments in which they live.
