Biological hierarchy, determinism, and specificity

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Biological Hierarchy

Contrasting evolutionary flexibility in sister groups: disparity and diversity in Mesozoic atelostomate echinoids

Paleobiology ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 56-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gunther J. Eble
Keyword(s):  
Morphological Evolution ◽  
Hierarchical Level ◽  
Developmental Constraint ◽  
Evolutionary Mechanisms ◽  
Lower Paleozoic ◽  
Time Period ◽  
Biological Hierarchy ◽  
Substantial Change ◽  
Test Architecture ◽  
Ordinal Level

Temporal asymmetries in clade histories have often been studied in lower Paleozoic radiations. Post-Paleozoic patterns, however, are less well understood. In this paper, disparity and diversity changes in Mesozoic heart urchins were analyzed at the ordinal level, with contrasts among the sister groups Holasteroida and Spatangoida, their paraphyletic stem group Disasteroida the more inclusive clade, the superorder Atelostomata. A 38-dimensional landmark-based morphospace representing test architecture was used to describe morphological evolution in terms of total variance and total range. Discordances between disparity and diversity were evident and were expressed both as deceleration in morphological diversification in all groups and as disproportionately higher disparity early in the histories of the Atelostomata, Holasteroida Spatangoida. The finding that the early atelostomate disparity peak coincides with the origin of the orders Holasteroida and Spatangoida lends support to the perception of orders as semi-independent entities in the biological hierarchy and as meaningful proxies for morphological distinctness.A comparison of holasteroid and spatangoid responses to the end-Cretaceous mass extinction revealed morphological selectivity. Paleocene spatangoid survivors showed no change in disparity relative to the Campanian-Maastrichtian sample, suggesting nonselectivity. Holasteroids suffered a pronounced loss in disparity (despite a rather high Late Cretaceous level of disparity), indicating morphological selectivity of extinction.Partitioning of disparity into plastral and nonplastral components, reflecting different degrees of developmental entrenchment and functionality, suggests that the origin of holasteroids and spatangoids is more consistent with an exploration of the developmental flexibility of nonplastral constructions than with uniform ecospace occupation. Within groups, several patterns were also most consistent with intrinsic controls. For plastral landmarks, there is an apparent increase in developmental modularity and decrease in developmental constraint from disasteroids to holasteroids and spatangoids. For nonplastral landmarks, no substantial change in disparity was observed from disasteroids to holasteroids and spatangoids, suggesting the maintenance of a developmental constraint despite the passage of time and ecological differentiation. More generally, this study suggests that certain topologies of disparity and evolutionary mechanisms potentially characteristic of the lower Paleozoic radiations of higher taxa (e.g., developmental flexibility) need not be confined to any given time period or hierarchical level.

scholarly journals Interaction Between Ploidy, Breeding System, and Lineage Diversification

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosana Zenil-Ferguson ◽  
J. Gordon Burleigh ◽  
William A. Freyman ◽  
Boris Igić ◽  
Itay Mayrose ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Breeding System ◽  
Whole Genome Duplication ◽  
Genome Duplication ◽  
Whole Genome ◽  
Self Incompatibility ◽  
Evolutionary Pathway ◽  
Diversification Rates ◽  
Extinction Rates ◽  
Biological Hierarchy ◽  
Lineage Diversification

AbstractIf particular traits consistently affect rates of speciation and extinction, broad macroevolutionary patterns can be understood as consequences of selection at high levels of the biological hierarchy. Identifying traits associated with diversification rate differences is complicated by the wide variety of characters under consideration and the statistical challenges of testing for associations from comparative phylogenetic data. Ploidy (diploid vs. polyploid states) and breeding system (self-incompatible vs. self-compatible states) have been repeatedly suggested as possible drivers of differential diversification. We investigate the connections of these traits, including their interaction, to speciation and extinction rates in Solanaceae. We show that the effect of ploidy on diversification can be largely explained by its correlation with breeding system and that additional unknown factors, alongside breeding system, influence diversification rates. These results are largely robust to allowing for diploidization. Finally, we find that the most common evolutionary pathway to polyploidy in Solanaceae occurs via direct breakdown of self-incompatibility by whole genome duplication, rather than indirectly via breakdown followed by polyploidization.

scholarly journals Morphology and behaviour: functional links in development and evolution

2011 ◽  
Vol 366 (1574) ◽  
pp. 2056-2068 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rinaldo C. Bertossa
Keyword(s):  
Phenotypic Diversity ◽  
Decisive Role ◽  
Evolutionary Developmental Biology ◽  
Form And Function ◽  
Biological Hierarchy ◽  
Object Of Study ◽  
And Function ◽  
Evo Devo ◽  
Versus Behaviour ◽  
Development And Evolution

Development and evolution of animal behaviour and morphology are frequently addressed independently, as reflected in the dichotomy of disciplines dedicated to their study distinguishing object of study (morphology versus behaviour) and perspective (ultimate versus proximate). Although traits are known to develop and evolve semi-independently, they are matched together in development and evolution to produce a unique functional phenotype. Here I highlight similarities shared by both traits, such as the decisive role played by the environment for their ontogeny. Considering the widespread developmental and functional entanglement between both traits, many cases of adaptive evolution are better understood when proximate and ultimate explanations are integrated. A field integrating these perspectives is evolutionary developmental biology (evo-devo), which studies the developmental basis of phenotypic diversity. Ultimate aspects in evo-devo studies—which have mostly focused on morphological traits—could become more apparent when behaviour, ‘the integrator of form and function’, is integrated into the same framework of analysis. Integrating a trait such as behaviour at a different level in the biological hierarchy will help to better understand not only how behavioural diversity is produced, but also how levels are connected to produce functional phenotypes and how these evolve. A possible framework to accommodate and compare form and function at different levels of the biological hierarchy is outlined. At the end, some methodological issues are discussed.

scholarly journals Self-assembly, self-organization and division of labour

1999 ◽  
Vol 354 (1388) ◽  
pp. 1395-1405 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana B. Sendova-Franks ◽  
Nigel R. Franks
Keyword(s):  
Self Assembly ◽  
Division Of Labour ◽  
Self Organization ◽  
Ecological Communities ◽  
Social Resilience ◽  
Biological Organization ◽  
Ant Colonies ◽  
The Social ◽  
Biological Hierarchy ◽  
Animal Societies

The prospect of generic principles of biological organization being uncovered through the increasingly broad use of the concepts of ‘self–assembly’ and ‘self–organization’ in biology will only be fulfilled if students of different levels of biological organization use the same terms with the same meanings. We consider the different ways the terms ‘self–assembly’ and ‘self–organization’ have been used, from studies of molecules to studies of animal societies. By linking ‘self–assembly’ and ‘self–organization’ with division of labour, we not only put forward a distinction between the underlying concepts but we are also able to relate them to the question: Why has a certain structure been favoured by natural selection? Using the particularly instructive case of social resilience in ant colonies, we demonstrate that the principle of self–organizing self–assembly may apply to higher levels of biological organization than previously considered. We predict that at the level of interactions among organisms within the most advanced animal societies, specialization through learning has a crucial role to play in re–assembly processes. This review may also help important commonalities and differences to be recognized between ordering mechanisms up to the social level and those further up the biological hierarchy, at the level of ecological communities.

scholarly journals Striving for population-level conservation: integrating physiology across the biological hierarchy

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth M Ames ◽  
Meaghan R Gade ◽  
Chelsey L Nieman ◽  
James R Wright ◽  
Christopher M Tonra ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Interspecific Interactions ◽  
Scale Up ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Physiological Measures ◽  
Population Declines ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Conservation Implications ◽  
Ecosystem Level ◽  
Biological Hierarchy ◽  
The Impact

Abstract The field of conservation physiology strives to achieve conservation goals by revealing physiological mechanisms that drive population declines in the face of human-induced rapid environmental change (HIREC) and has informed many successful conservation actions. However, many studies still struggle to explicitly link individual physiological measures to impacts across the biological hierarchy (to population and ecosystem levels) and instead rely on a ‘black box’ of assumptions to scale up results for conservation implications. Here, we highlight some examples of studies that were successful in scaling beyond the individual level, including two case studies of well-researched species, and using other studies we highlight challenges and future opportunities to increase the impact of research by scaling up the biological hierarchy. We first examine studies that use individual physiological measures to scale up to population-level impacts and discuss several emerging fields that have made significant steps toward addressing the gap between individual-based and demographic studies, such as macrophysiology and landscape physiology. Next, we examine how future studies can scale from population or species-level to community- and ecosystem-level impacts and discuss avenues of research that can lead to conservation implications at the ecosystem level, such as abiotic gradients and interspecific interactions. In the process, we review methods that researchers can use to make links across the biological hierarchy, including crossing disciplinary boundaries, collaboration and data sharing, spatial modelling and incorporating multiple markers (e.g. physiological, behavioural or demographic) into their research. We recommend future studies incorporating tools that consider the diversity of ‘landscapes’ experienced by animals at higher levels of the biological hierarchy, will make more effective contributions to conservation and management decisions.

Epigenomics: The New Science of Functional and Evolutionary Morphology

2003 ◽  
Vol 53 (3) ◽  
pp. 225-243 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth Kardong
Keyword(s):  
Natural Selection ◽  
Boundary Conditions ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Gene Pools ◽  
Biological Processes ◽  
Evolutionary Morphology ◽  
New Science ◽  
Biological Hierarchy ◽  
Analytical Tools ◽  
Selection Of

AbstractOrganisms are more than the genes that look after their assembly. Chemical and mechanical inputs from the environment, epigenomic (≈epigenetic) cues, also have an effect on the final phenotype. In fact, continued environmental influences on the adult phenotype continue to affect its characteristics. Despite its importance, it is a mistake to turn then to epigenomics as a causative agent of evolutionary modification. Within a biological hierarchy, higher levels result from lower-level processes (genes up to phenotype), and lower levels result from higher-level processes (natural selection of phenotypes down to gene pools), respectively, upward and downward causation. Predictable epigenomic cues are assimilated into the genome. The evolved genome therefore incorporates epigenomic cues or the expectation of their arrival, placing the current genome in the position of determining how much epigenomic information is included, what epigenomic information is incorporated, and when epigenomic information initiates gene expression during morphogenesis of the phenotype. Consequently scientific explanations of changes in phenotypes (e.g., morphological design) are of two kinds, causes and boundary conditions. Causes are the events directly involved in producing changes in the state of a biological system; they act within limits or constraints, the boundary conditions. Confusion between these two types of explanation has misled some to equate epigenomic cues, which are boundary conditions, with natural selection, which is a causative explanation. Such confusion extends outside of biology per se where the consequences of non-equilibrium thermodynamics or chaos complexity unfortunately have been championed for their challenge to biological processes. However, because functional and evolutionary morphology employs analytical tools that describe the boundary conditions set by an integrated adaptation, the discipline is most favourably suited to providing explanations of biological diversity and evolution.

scholarly journals Experimental evolution of nascent multicellularity: Recognizing a Darwinian transition in individuality

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline J. Rose ◽  
Katrin Hammerschmidt ◽  
Paul B. Rainey
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Evolution ◽  
Cell Types ◽  
Life Cycles ◽  
Levels Of Selection ◽  
Group Level ◽  
Evolutionary Transition ◽  
Evolutionary Transitions ◽  
Units Of Selection ◽  
Biological Hierarchy ◽  
Bacterial Groups

AbstractMajor evolutionary transitions in individuality, at any level of the biological hierarchy, occur when groups participate in Darwinian processes as units of selection in their own right. Identifying transitions in individuality can be problematic because apparent selection at one level of the biological hierarchy may be a by-product of selection occurring at another level. Here we discuss approaches to this “levels-of-selection” problem and apply them to a previously published experimental exploration of the evolutionary transition to multicellularity. In these experiments groups of the bacterium Pseudomonas fluorescens were required to reproduce via life cycles involving soma- and germline-like phases. The rate of transition between the two cell types was a focus of selection, and might be regarded as a property of groups, cells, or even genes. By examining the experimental data under several established philosophical frameworks, we argue that in the Pseudomonas experiments, bacterial groups acquired Darwinian properties sufficient to allow the evolution of traits adaptive at the group level.

Social and biological intergroup hierarchy beliefs: A cross-cultural comparison between the US and South Korea

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 455-477 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hyeyoung Shin ◽  
John F. Dovidio ◽  
Jaime L Napier ◽  
Charles G. Stangor ◽  
James S. Uleman
Keyword(s):  
South Korea ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Or Efficiency ◽  
Group Orientation ◽  
Cross Cultural Comparison ◽  
Northern European ◽  
The Us ◽  
Biological Hierarchy ◽  
Multigroup Structural Equation Modeling

The present research investigated social and biological intergroup hierarchy beliefs in the US and South Korea, representative Northern European-heritage and East Asian cultures, respectively. We hypothesized that individual-orientation (the emphasis on individuals and individual achievements) and group-orientation (the emphasis on groups and efficient functioning of groups) would predict social and biological hierarchy beliefs differently within and between these cultures. As expected, intergroup hierarchy beliefs were stronger in South Korea than in the US, particularly for biological hierarchy beliefs. Multigroup structural equation modeling analyses revealed that group-orientation predicted intergroup hierarchy beliefs across cultures, but more strongly in South Korea than in the US. Also, an emphasis on individual achievements predicted social hierarchy beliefs only in the US, whereas an emphasis on roles/positions within groups predicted social and biological hierarchy beliefs only in South Korea. Results implied that intergroup hierarchy beliefs may be generally associated with group-orientation and the value of competence or efficiency in each culture.

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