Moth



Blackwell Publishing

Evolutionary developmental biology - How can we study morphological evolution?

stalk_eye.jpg

Studying morphological evolution

Within the soma, many different cell lines develop and the form of the adult can be altered by heterochronic changes between them. This kind of heterochrony can be studied by two of the classic methods of studying morphological evolution:

• Huxley's allometric graphs

• D'Arcy Thompson's transformations.

Image: the stalk eyed fly Cyrtodiopsis dalmani has an eye span longer than its body. There exists an allometric relationship between eyespan and body length which has been studied by biologists interested in morphological evolution.

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