Fin modules: an evolutionary perspective on appendage disparity in basal vertebrates.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Fishes are extremely speciose and also highly disparate in their fin configurations, more specifically in the number of fins present as well as their structure, shape, and size. How they achieved this remarkable disparity is difficult to explain in the absence of any comprehensive overview of the evolutionary history of fish appendages. Fin modularity could provide an explanation for both the observed disparity in fin configurations and the sequential appearance of new fins. Modularity is considered as an important prerequisite for the evolvability of living systems, enabling individual modules to be optimized without interfering with others. Similarities in developmental patterns between some of the fins already suggest that they form developmental modules during ontoge

SUBMITTER: Larouche O 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5406925 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature