Evolution and Development

The enormous advances in combining molecular developmental biology and palaeontology over recent decades have opened up a new field of research for the evolution of past and present biodiversity. This allows for a deeper understanding of interactions between molecular patterning, ontogeny and morphology from an evolutionary perspective. State-of-the-art techniques are now available for investigating these interactions. The course provides an overview of this rapidly developing field, focusing on selected sets of arthropods and vertebrates. In-situ hybridisation, skeletal staining and synchrotron micro-computed tomography-based histology will be used to examine their evolution from an integrated molecular-morphological perspective within a phylogenetic context. The knowledge gained from these examples is used in addressing broader conceptual questions.