Sears Karen E
School of Integrative Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois; Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois.
J Exp Zool B Mol Dev Evol. 2014 Dec;322(8):643-53. doi: 10.1002/jez.b.22592. Epub 2014 Nov 12.
A primary goal of evolutionary biology is to identify the factors that shape phenotypic evolution. According to the theory of natural selection, phenotypic evolution occurs through the differential survival and reproduction of individuals whose traits are selectively advantageous relative to other individuals in the population. This implies that evolution by natural selection is contingent upon the distribution and magnitude of phenotypic variation among individuals, which are in turn the products of developmental processes. Development therefore has the potential to affect the trajectory and rate of phenotypic evolution. Recent research in diverse systems (e.g., mammalian teeth, cichlid skulls, butterfly wings, and marsupial limbs) supports the hypothesis that development biases phenotypic variation and evolution, but suggests that these biases might be system-specific.
进化生物学的一个主要目标是确定塑造表型进化的因素。根据自然选择理论，表型进化是通过个体的差异生存和繁殖而发生的，这些个体的性状相对于种群中的其他个体具有选择性优势。这意味着自然选择导致的进化取决于个体间表型变异的分布和大小，而这些又是发育过程的产物。因此，发育有可能影响表型进化的轨迹和速度。最近在不同系统（如哺乳动物牙齿、丽鱼科鱼类头骨、蝴蝶翅膀和有袋类动物肢体）中的研究支持了这样一种假说，即发育会使表型变异和进化产生偏差，但表明这些偏差可能是特定于系统的。
