Frequent Non-random Shifts in the Temporal Sequence of Developmental Landmark Events during Fish Evolutionary Diversification

摘要: Morphology is a consequence of sequentially occurring developmental events, termed sequence, and evolutionary changes in the sequence can generate morphological diversities. In this study, we examined dynamics at macro-evolutionary scale using teleost fish. From previous literature describing development 31 fish species, extracted sequences 20 landmark events involving whole body plan, by them, reconstructed ancestral sequences. The phylogenetic comparisons these revealed event-dependent heterogeneity frequency changing We then determined potential event shifts that parsimoniously explain on each node tree. These heterochronic are widely distributed almost all branches across phylogeny. simulation-based analysis indicated distribution not result random accumulation over time, but exhibits curious constant trend so individual harbor similar numbers regardless length. It great interest to know how findings related divergence animals during evolution.