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Evo-devo: Developmental constraints

Nature Ecology & Evolution volume 1, Article number: 0128 (2017) Cite this article

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Morphology and gene expression in mid-embryogenesis are highly conserved across species of the same phylum. In nematodes, developmental constraints, rather than natural selection, explain how this pattern was established during evolution.

The simplest way to view developmental constraints is that the structure of regulatory networks limits which phenotypes can be caused by mutations — rather than being evenly distributed in all directions, some phenotypic changes are more likely than others (Fig. 1b).

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Figure 1: The phylotypic stage, natural selection and developmental constraints.

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  1. Ronald E. Ellis is at Rowan University SOM, B303 Science Center, 2 Medical Center Drive, Stratford, New Jersey 08084, USA.,

    Ronald E. Ellis

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  1. Ronald E. Ellis
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Correspondence to Ronald E. Ellis.

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Ellis, R. Evo-devo: Developmental constraints. Nat Ecol Evol 1, 0128 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-017-0128

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-017-0128

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