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4 - Evolution in the light of embryos: seeking the origins of novelties in ontogeny

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 June 2009

By
Rudolf A. Raff  and
Elizabeth C. Raff
Edited by
Manfred D. Laubichler  and
Jane Maienschein
Manfred D. Laubichler
Affiliation:
Arizona State University
Jane Maienschein
Affiliation:
Arizona State University
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Summary

ROLES FOR DEVELOPMENT IN EVOLUTION

In the later part of the nineteenth century, it became evident that there was a hereditary connection between the development of living organisms and their evolutionary ancestors (Amundson 2005). This connection was given mechanistic underpinnings by Müller (1869), and was elaborated and formalized by Ernst Haeckel in his recapitulation theory, in which he attempted to link the mechanisms of evolution of descendants to the development of their ancestors by means of addition of new terminal stages, combined with the shortening of life stages inherited from the ancestors. The result, according to Haeckel, was that living forms in their development literally recapitulate the adult forms of their ancestors in a condensed sequence. This was the most influential theory of the late nineteenth century, linking evolution causally to both Lamarkian heredity and ontogeny (Gould 1977; Richardson and Keuck 2002). Although important in inspiring studies in comparative embryology, which were used in seeking phylogenetic information on remote ancestors, the hold of this theory on biologists weakened by the mid 1890s. Following Roux's influential lead, embryologists became interested in the mechanisms of developmental processes per se and abandoned Haeckel's phylogenetic program that offered little insight into how embryos develop. Haeckelian recapitulation as a mechanism was subsequently shown to be unfeasible with the rediscovery of Mendelian inheritance, which uprooted terminal addition from its theoretical foundations.

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Form and Function in Developmental Evolution , pp. 83 - 111
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2009

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