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Evolutionary developmental biology

Head start

Nature volume 408, pages 778–781 (2000)Cite this article

Some neat transgenic experiments show how the evolution of the vertebrate head stemmed, at least in part, from elaboration of controls on pre-existing genetic machinery.

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Figure 1: The cephalochordate amphioxus compared to a primitive vertebrate (similar to a modern-day lamprey).
Figure 2: Manzanares et al.1 show that gene sequences from amphioxus can perform developmental roles specific to head development in vertebrate embryos.

References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology Boston University, 5 Cummington Street, Boston , 02215, Massachusetts, USA

    John R. Finnerty

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  1. John R. Finnerty
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Correspondence to John R. Finnerty.

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Finnerty, J. Head start. Nature 408, 778–781 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/35048648

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