Hall Brian K
School of Life Sciences, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-3301, USA.
Theory Biosci. 2009 Mar;128(1):7-18. doi: 10.1007/s12064-009-0057-0. Epub 2009 Feb 13.
Eighteen seventy-four was a high point in evolutionary embryology. Thanks to Charles Darwin, the theory of evolution by natural selection provided a revolutionary new way of viewing the relationships and origins of organisms on Earth. Thanks to Ernst Haeckel, embryos were the way to study evolution (Haeckel in Generelle morphologie der organismen, vols 1, 2. Verlag Georg Reimer, Berlin, 1866)-it really was embryos in evolution-and recapitulation was in the air. Thanks to Anton Dohrn, a new research facility was on the ground, designed, located and structured to facilitate the study of embryos in evolution. Anton Dohrn devised, designed, financed, supervised the construction and then administered the Naples Zoological Station specifically so that researchers from all nations would have a facility where Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection could be tested. The zoologists who took advantage of the brand new facility within weeks of its opening late in 1873 established lines of research into evolutionary embryology, the field we now know as evolutionary developmental biology (evo-devo), the study of embryos in evolution. I examine the approach taken by Ambrosius Hubrecht, the first Dutch embryologist to undertake research at the station, and then evaluate the research of three British zoologists-E. Ray Lankester, Albert Dew-Smith, and Francis Maitland (Frank) Balfour. All four sought insights into origins, especially vertebrate origins that rested on comparative embryology, homology, germ layers, and a Darwinian approach to origins.
1874年是进化胚胎学的一个高峰。多亏了查尔斯·达尔文，自然选择的进化论为观察地球上生物的关系和起源提供了一种全新的革命性方式。多亏了恩斯特·海克尔，胚胎成为了研究进化的途径（海克尔著《生物体的普通形态学》，第1卷、第2卷，乔治·赖默出版社，柏林，1866年）——进化中的胚胎才是关键——重演论也开始流行起来。多亏了安东·多恩，一个新的研究机构落地建成，其设计、选址和结构都便于对进化中的胚胎进行研究。安东·多恩专门设计、规划、资助并监督了那不勒斯动物学站的建设，之后还负责管理该站，目的就是让各国的研究人员都能有一个可以检验达尔文自然选择进化论的场所。1873年末，这个全新的机构开放，几周内就有动物学家利用该设施开启了进化胚胎学的研究路线，也就是我们现在所知的进化发育生物学（演化发育生物学），即对进化中的胚胎的研究。我先考察了安布罗修斯·胡布雷希特（首位在该站开展研究的荷兰胚胎学家）所采用的方法，然后评估了三位英国动物学家——E. 雷·兰克斯特、阿尔伯特·德·史密斯和弗朗西斯·梅特兰（弗兰克）·鲍尔弗的研究。这四人都试图从起源方面，尤其是基于比较胚胎学、同源性、胚层以及达尔文式起源方法的脊椎动物起源方面找到见解。
