The fossil record is a unique repository of information on major morphological transitions. Increasingly, developmental, embryological, and functional genomic approaches have also conspired to reveal evolutionary trajectory of phenotypic shifts. Here, we use the vertebrate appendage to demonstrate how these disciplines can mutually reinforce each other to facilitate the generation and testing of hypotheses of morphological evolution. We discuss classical theories on the origins of paired fins, recent data on regulatory modulations of fish fins and tetrapod limbs, and case studies exploring the mechanisms of digit loss in tetrapods. We envision an era of research in which the deep history of morphological evolution can be revealed by integrating fossils of transitional forms with direct experimentation in the laboratory via genome manipulation, thereby shedding light on the relationship between genes, developmental processes, and the evolving phenotype.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1403665112 | DOI Listing |
J Hum Evol
January 2025
Department of Geology, Panjab University, Chandigarh, 160014, India.
Fossil gibbons are exceedingly rare, with much of the hylobatid fossil record and, consequently, hylobatid evolutionary history remaining unknown. Kapi ramnagarensis was described as a stem hylobatid on the basis of an isolated lower right M from ∼13.0-12.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNano Lett
January 2025
School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan 250100, P. R. China.
Pnictogen bond (PnB) occurring on the group-15 elements is recognized as σ- or π-hole-based interaction that has garnered attention in the fields of anion recognition and organocatalysis. Due to the polyvalent feature of pnictogens and high directionality, PnB possesses potential in the design of convergent coassembled materials with acceptors containing lone pair electrons or anions, which however is rarely explored so far. Herein, we unveil the role of antimony (Sb)-based PnB donors in producing self-assembled chiroptical materials with lone pair electron containing acceptors.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Helminthol
January 2025
Laboratório de Helmintos Parasitos de Peixes, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fiocruz, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
The genus Linton, 1910 comprises species which parasitize herbivorous kyphosid fish. In the present study, a new species is described based on fresh specimens collected from from Rio de Janeiro. The new species is characterized by having the oral sucker infundibuliform with 10 lobes, prepharynx two times longer than pharynx, presence of oesophagus, testes slightly lobed, round ovary and rectum with muscular sphincter connected to the anus.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFParasit Vectors
January 2025
Center of Excellence in Veterinary Parasitology, Department of Pathology, Faculty of Veterinary Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, 10330, Thailand.
Background: The subfamily Phlebotominae comprises 1028 species of sand fly, of which only 90 are recognized as vectors of pathogenic agents such as Trypanosoma, Leishmania, and Bartonella. In Thailand, leishmaniasis-a sand fly-borne disease-is currently endemic, with 36 documented sand fly species. However, many cryptic species likely remain unidentified.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSci Rep
January 2025
Department of Biology, Biochemistry and Natural Sciences, Universitat Jaume I, Castellón de la Plana, Spain.
Endophytes can be a promising alternative for sustainable agronomic practices. In this study, we report for the first time a root-colonizing fungal strain (Sl27) of the genus Leptobacillium as a tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) endophyte, with no clear homology to any known species. Performed analyses and assays, including morphological and physiological characterization of the fungal isolate, provided insights into the ecological niche and potential agronomical and industrial applications of the fungal isolate.
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