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One or more keywords matched the following properties of Shubin, Neil H.
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overview I seek to understand the mechanisms behind the evolutionary origin of new anatomical features and faunas. The philosophy that underlies all of my empirical work is derived from the conviction that progress in the study of evolutionary biology results from linking research across diverse temporal, phylogenetic, and structural scales. The Origin of Novel Faunas and Anatomical Systems: Much of today's vertebrate diversity was defined by ecological and evolutionary shifts that happened during two critical intervals in the history of the Earth: the Devonian and the Triassic. These periods serve as the focal point for my research because they witness the origin of both new ecosystems and new anatomical designs. My expeditionary research supplies new fossils and a paleoenvironmental context to understand the origin of faunas, whereas our morphological, functional, and developmental studies yield hypotheses on anatomical transformations. Over the past fifteen years, I have developed expeditionary research programs in Canada, Africa, the continental United States, Asia, and Greenland. These expeditions have led to new insights on the origin of major groups of vertebrates (mammals, frogs, crocodiles, tetrapods, and sarcopterygian fish). Future studies on the origins of pterosaurs, rhizodontid fish, dinosaurs, and salamanders will rely heavily on fossils discovered over the past five years. Examples include the newly discovered adult fin and juvenile skeleton of the fish, Sauripterus. These fossils are providing evidence on the ways that appendage function and skeletal development shifted during the evolutionary radiation of lobe-finned fish. Indeed, this evolutionary radiation is temporally linked to the origin of new freshwater environments. Consequently, the analysis of Sauripterus will place comparative studies of fin structure, development and function in a phylogenetic and paleoenvironmental context. The goals of the paleontological research dovetail with those of my neontological studies. New fossils, such as Sauripterus, offer tests of hypotheses that derive from our comparative analysis of genetic and morphogenetic processes. For example, the comparison of developmental pathways common to the appendages of all animals suggests genetic mechanisms for parallel evolution and homology. Regularities of variation may reflect the fact that similar regulatory genes are used in the developmental patterning of diverse types of animals. The Origin of Morphological Variation: The ~400 million year history of terrestrial animals reveals surprising patterns of anatomical stasis and parallel evolution: similar designs crop up in different species living in different environments. Salamanders, for example, arose over 150 million years ago, but have retained a very stable body plan in the face of environmental change and genetic variation. The study of these regularities transcends ecological and paleontological timescales because explanations of larger-scale patterns can be sought in the mechanisms that structure anatomical variation in populations today. Accordingly, my research has involved collecting data on intraspecific variation from diverse populations, developing predictive models of variation based on ontogeny, and comparing developmental processes in diverse salamanders that live in different environmental settings. Salamander limbs are a model system to approach these issues because of the diversity of their developmental systems and life histories. In addition, the widespread occurrence of parallelism provides us with a window to develop predictive rules about the origin of variation in populations. Over the past seven years, colleagues and I have composed a database of limb variation and ontogeny in populations of diverse salamanders. Virtually all of the species analyzed to date possess variant conditions that both restore ancient features and anticipate more derived conditions seen in distantly-related species. Much of the observed intraspecific variation is predictable from a knowledge of phylogenetic history or development. Ultimately, if these historical and developmental effects resulted in long-term evolutionary patterns, they must have acted over geological timescales. Tests of this hypothesis will come from the study of the Chinese Cretaceous where, in collaboration with colleagues, I am studying variation of salamanders in a Cretaceous pond that were killed in a single mass-mortality event. Phylogenetic analysis of ontogenetic trajectories in salamanders affords critical assessments of the role of historical, ecological, and structural factors in evolution. Analysis of development in salamanders with different life histories suggests certain aspects of early limb development are highly sensitive to variation in larval biology. I intend to explore this link between ontogenetic diversity and anatomical variation in the future by using experimental and comparative studies of ontogeny.
One or more keywords matched the following items that are connected to Shubin, Neil H.
Item TypeName
Concept Biological Evolution
Concept Evolution, Molecular
Academic Article Haramiyids and Triassic mammalian evolution.
Academic Article Fossils, genes and the evolution of animal limbs.
Academic Article Origin of evolutionary novelty: examples from limbs.
Academic Article Late Jurassic salamanders from northern China.
Academic Article Earliest known crown-group salamanders.
Academic Article The early evolution of the tetrapod humerus.
Academic Article Evolutionary biology: lost and found.
Academic Article A Devonian tetrapod-like fish and the evolution of the tetrapod body plan.
Academic Article Sonic hedgehog function in chondrichthyan fins and the evolution of appendage patterning.
Academic Article The cranial endoskeleton of Tiktaalik roseae.
Academic Article Chondrogenesis and homology of the visceral skeleton in the little skate, Leucoraja erinacea (Chondrichthyes: Batoidea).
Academic Article Deep homology and the origins of evolutionary novelty.
Academic Article The evolution of gnathostome development: Insight from chondrichthyan embryology.
Academic Article Holocephalan embryos provide evidence for gill arch appendage reduction and opercular evolution in cartilaginous fishes.
Academic Article This old body.
Academic Article Limb chondrogenesis of the seepage salamander, Desmognathus aeneus (amphibia: plethodontidae).
Academic Article Salamander limb development: integrating genes, morphology, and fossils.
Academic Article Appendage expression driven by the Hoxd Global Control Region is an ancient gnathostome feature.
Academic Article Behavioral evidence for the evolution of walking and bounding before terrestriality in sarcopterygian fishes.
Academic Article The pectoral fin of Tiktaalik roseae and the origin of the tetrapod limb.
Academic Article The African coelacanth genome provides insights into tetrapod evolution.
Academic Article Farish A. Jenkins Jr (1940-2012).
Academic Article The origin of the tetrapod limb: from expeditions to enhancers.
Academic Article Organogenesis in deep time: A problem in genomics, development, and paleontology.
Academic Article QnAs with Neil Shubin.
Academic Article Pelvic girdle and fin of Tiktaalik roseae.
Academic Article Mandibular and dental characteristics of Late Triassic mammaliaform Haramiyavia and their ramifications for basal mammal evolution.
Academic Article The spotted gar genome illuminates vertebrate evolution and facilitates human-teleost comparisons.
Academic Article Corrigendum: The spotted gar genome illuminates vertebrate evolution and facilitates human-teleost comparisons.
Academic Article Cis-regulatory programs in the development and evolution of vertebrate paired appendages.
Academic Article Regulatory evolution of Tbx5 and the origin of paired appendages.
Academic Article Digits and fin rays share common developmental histories.
Academic Article MORPHOLOGICAL VARIATION IN THE LIMBS OF TARICHA GRANULOSA (CAUDATA: SALAMANDRIDAE): EVOLUTIONARY AND PHYLOGENETIC IMPLICATIONS.
Academic Article Gene regulatory networks and network models in development and evolution.
Academic Article EVOLUTION AND MORPHOGENETIC RULES: THE SHAPE OF THE VERTEBRATE LIMB IN ONTOGENY AND PHYLOGENY.
Academic Article A conserved Shh cis-regulatory module highlights a common developmental origin of unpaired and paired fins.
Academic Article The evolutionary origins and diversity of the neuromuscular system of paired appendages in batoids.
Academic Article Fin ray patterns at the fin-to-limb transition.
Academic Article Ontogeny of the anuran urostyle and the developmental context of evolutionary novelty.
Academic Article Comparative genomic analysis of human GLI2 locus using slowly evolving fish revealed the ancestral gnathostome set of early developmental enhancers.
Academic Article The feeding system of Tiktaalik roseae: an intermediate between suction feeding and biting.
Academic Article Evolution: The deep genetic roots of tetrapod-specific traits.
Academic Article The Shh/Gli3 gene regulatory network precedes the origin of paired fins and reveals the deep homology between distal fins and digits.
Academic Article A new elpistostegalian from the Late Devonian of the Canadian Arctic.
Academic Article The little skate genome and the evolutionary emergence of wing-like fins.
Academic Article Identification of ancestral gnathostome Gli3 enhancers with activity in mammals.
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  • Evolution