Animal Evolution

Genomes, Fossils, and Trees

Edited by Maximilian J. Telford and D.T.J. Littlewood

Integrates morphological, fossil and molecular evidence to produce a new understanding of metazoan evolution
Adopts a strong molecular approach
Applies new phylogenies to a reinterpretation of the patterns and processes of animal evolution
Contributions from an all-star cast from the field of modern animal evolutionary biology drawn primarily from North America and Europe

Animal Evolution

Genomes, Fossils, and Trees

Edited by Maximilian J. Telford and D.T.J. Littlewood

Description

Animal life, now and over the past half billion years, is incredibly diverse. Describing and understanding the evolution of this diversity of body plans - from vertebrates such as humans and fish to the numerous invertebrate groups including sponges, insects, molluscs, and the many groups of worms - is a major goal of evolutionary biology. In this book, a group of leading researchers adopt a modern, integrated approach to describe how current molecular genetic techniques and disciplines as diverse as palaeontology, embryology, and genomics have been combined, resulting in a dramatic renaissance in the study of animal evolution.

The last decade has seen growing interest in evolutionary biology fuelled by a wealth of data from molecular biology. Modern phylogenies integrating evidence from molecules, embryological data, and morphology of living and fossil taxa provide a wide consensus of the major branching patterns of the tree of life; moreover, the links between phenotype and genotype are increasingly well understood. This has resulted in a reliable tree of relationships that has been widely accepted and has spawned numerous new and exciting questions that require a reassessment of the origins and radiation of animal life. The focus of this volume is at the level of major animal groups, the morphological innovations that define them, and the mechanisms of change to their embryology that have resulted in their evolution. Current research themes and future prospects are highlighted including phylogeny reconstruction, comparative developmental biology, the value of different sources of data and the importance of fossils, homology assessment, character evolution, phylogeny of major groups of animals, and genome evolution. These topics are integrated in the light of a 'new animal phylogeny', to provide fresh insights into the patterns and processes of animal evolution.

Animal Evolution provides a timely and comprehensive statement of progress in the field for academic researchers requiring an authoritative, balanced and up-to-date overview of the topic. It is also intended for both upper level undergraduate and graduate students taking courses in animal evolution, molecular phylogenetics, evo-devo, comparative genomics and associated disciplines.

Animal Evolution

Genomes, Fossils, and Trees

Edited by Maximilian J. Telford and D.T.J. Littlewood

Foreword, Peter W.H. Holland
Introduction, Maximilian J. Telford & D. Timothy J. Littlewood
I. Origins of animals
1:The earliest fossil record of the animals and its significance, Graham E. Budd
2:The Ediacaran emergence of bilaterians: congruence between the genetic and the geologic fossil records, Kevin J. Peterson, James A. Cotton, James G. Gehling & Davide Pisani
3:Genomic, phylogenetic, and cell biological insights into metazoan origins, Scott A. Nichols, Mark, J. Dayel & Nicole King
4:The mouth, the anus and the blastopore - open questions about questionable openings, Andreas Hejnol & Mark Q. Martindale
II. The Bilateria
5:Metazoan body plan origins: the larval revolution, Rudolf A. Raff
6:Assembling the spiralian tree of life, Gonzalo Giribet, Casey W. Dunn, Gregory D. Edgecombe, Andreas Hejnol, Mark Q. Martindale & Greg W. Rouse
7:The evolution of nervous system centralisation, Detlev Arendt, Alexandru S. Denes, Gáspár Jékely & Kristin Tessmar-Raible
8:The origins and evolution of the Ecdysozoa, Maximilian J. Telford, Sarah J. Bourlat, Andrew Economou, Daniel Papillon & Omar Rota-Stabelli
9:Deciphering deuterostome phylogeny: molecular, morphological and palaeontological perspectives, Andrew B. Smith & Billie J. Swalla
10:Molecular genetic insights into deuterostome evolution from the direct-developing hemichordate Saccoglossus kowalevskii, Christopher J. Lowe
III. Themes and Perspectives
11:Invertebrate Problematica: kinds, causes, and solutions, Ronald A. Jenner & D. Timothy J. Littlewood
12:Improvement of molecular phylogenetic inference and the phylogeny of Bilateria, Nicolas Lartillot & Hervé Philippe
13:Beyond linear sequence comparisons: the use of genome-level characters for phylogenetic reconstruction, Jeffrey L. Boore & Susan I. Fuerstenberg
14:The animal in the genome: comparative genomics and evolution, Richard R. Copley
15:MicroRNAs and metazoan phylogeny: big trees from little genes, Erik A. Sperling & Kevin J. Peterson
16:The evolution of developmental gene networks: lessons from comparative studies on holometabolous insects, Andrew D. Peel
17:Conserved developmental processes and the evolution of novel traits: wounds, embryos, veins, and butterfly eyespots, Patrícia Beldade & Suzanne V. Saenko

Animal Evolution

Genomes, Fossils, and Trees

Edited by Maximilian J. Telford and D.T.J. Littlewood

Author Information

Edited by Maximilian J. Telford, Department of Genetics, Evolution, and Environment, University College London, and D.T.J. Littlewood, The Natural History Museum, London

Contributors:

Detlev Arendt (European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Heidelberg, Germany)
Patrícia Beldade (Leiden University, The Netherlands)
Jeffrey L. Boore (University of California Berkeley, USA)
Sarah J. Bourlat (University College London, UK)
Graham E. Budd (Uppsala University, Sweden)
Richard R. Copley (Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, Oxford, UK)
James A. Cotton (Queen Mary University of London, UK)
Mark J. Dayel (University of California Berkeley, USA)
Alexandru S. Denes (European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Heidelberg, Germany)
Casey W. Dunn (Brown University, USA)
Andrew Economou (University College London, UK)
Gregory D. Edgecombe (The Natural History Museum, UK)
Susan I. Fuerstenberg (Genome Project Solutions, USA)
James G. Gehling (South Australian Museum, Australia)
Gonzalo Giribet (Harvard University, USA)
Andreas Hejnol (University of Hawaii, USA)
Peter W.H. Holland (University of Oxford, UK)
Ronald A. Jenner (University of Bath, UK)
Gáspár Jékely (European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Heidelberg, Germany)
Nicole King (University of California Berkeley, USA)
Nicolas Lartillot (CNRS - Université de Montpellier 2, France)
D. Timothy J. Littlewood (The Natural History Museum, UK)
Christopher J. Lowe (University of Chicago, USA)
Mark Q. Martindale (University of Hawaii, USA)
Scott A. Nichols (University of California Berkeley, USA)
Daniel Papillon (University College London, UK)
Andrew D. Peel (Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Crete)
Hervé Philippe (Université de Montréal, Canada)
Davide Pisani (The National University of Ireland, Ireland)
Rudolf A. Raff (Indiana University, USA)
Omar Rota-Stabelli (University College London, UK)
Greg W. Rouse (University of California San Diego, USA)
Suzanne V. Saenko (Leiden University, The Netherlands)
Andrew B. Smith (The Natural History Museum, UK)
Erik A. Sperling (Yale University, USA)
Billie J. Swalla (University of Washington, USA)
Maximilian J. Telford (University College London, UK)
Kristin Tessmar-Raible (European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Heidelberg, Germany)

Animal Evolution

Genomes, Fossils, and Trees

Edited by Maximilian J. Telford and D.T.J. Littlewood

Reviews and Awards

"This volume is extremely useful for those who want to find out the latest ideas, or catch up in an area of research that moves more rapidly than most of us can keep up with." - Society of Systematic Biologists