Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

The Evidence for Evolution02:55

The Evidence for Evolution

39.8K
Genetic variations accumulating within populations over generations give rise to biological evolution. Evolutionary changes can result in the formation of novel varieties and entire new species. These changes are responsible for the diverse forms of life inhabiting the planet. The evidence for evolution suggests that all living organisms descended from common ancestors.
39.8K
Evolution of New Traits in Microbes01:24

Evolution of New Traits in Microbes

197
Microorganisms evolve rapidly due to their large population sizes and short generation times, often exhibiting measurable changes within days under laboratory conditions. Natural selection acts on standing genetic variation, enabling the retention and amplification of beneficial traits that confer fitness advantages in changing environments.Adaptive Pigment Regulation in RhodobacterIn Rhodobacter, a genus of purple non-sulfur bacteria, light-harvesting pigments such as bacteriochlorophyll and...
197
Convergent Evolution01:54

Convergent Evolution

27.6K
Evolution shapes the features of organisms over time, ensuring that they are suited for the environments in which they live. Sometimes, selection pressure leads to the rise of similar but unrelated adaptations in organisms with no recent common ancestors, a process known as convergent evolution.
27.6K
Evolutionary Relationships through Genome Comparisons02:54

Evolutionary Relationships through Genome Comparisons

5.8K
Genome comparison is one of the excellent ways to interpret the evolutionary relationships between organisms. The basic principle of genome comparison is that if two species share a common feature, it is likely encoded by the DNA sequence conserved between both species. The advent of genome sequencing technologies in the late 20th century enabled scientists to understand the concept of conservation of domains between species and helped them to deduce evolutionary relationships across diverse...
5.8K
Synteny and Evolution02:31

Synteny and Evolution

2.9K
John H. Renwick first coined the term “synteny” in 1971, which refers to the genes present on the same chromosomes, even if they are not genetically linked. The species with common ancestry tend to show conserved syntenic regions. Therefore, the concept of synteny is nowadays used to describe the evolutionary relationship between species.
Around 80 million years ago, the human and mice lineages diverged from the common ancestor. During the course of evolution, the ancestral...
2.9K
Phylogeny01:23

Phylogeny

47.2K
Phylogeny is concerned with the evolutionary diversification of organisms or groups of organisms. A group of organisms with a name is called a taxon (singular). Taxa (plural) can span different levels of the evolutionary hierarchy. For instance, the group containing all birds is a taxon (comprising the class Aves), and the group of all species of daisies (the genus Bellis) is a taxon. Phylogenies can likewise include just one genus (i.e., depict species relationships) or span an entire kingdom.
47.2K

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Genetic composition of facultatively anadromous brown trout Salmo trutta L. in a freshwater-lake system.

Journal of fish biology·2026
Same author

Behavior evolves as a correlated response to selection on cuticle color in Drosophila melanogaster and D. simulans.

Evolution; international journal of organic evolution·2026
Same author

Selection against dispersers: sex, age and origin-dependent fitness differences in wild Atlantic salmon.

Proceedings. Biological sciences·2026
Same author

The importance of mitochondrial DNA introgression for conservation.

Trends in ecology & evolution·2026
Same author

A Flexible Method for Genomics-Based Quantitative Genetics in Wild Study Systems-A Case Study on a House Sparrow Meta-Population.

Evolutionary applications·2026
Same author

Is the alpha-amylase paralogue Amyrel dispensable in Drosophila melanogaster?

Open biology·2026
Same journal

Multiomics Profiling During Autoimmune Demyelination Highlights a Complex Regulatory Role for Ataxin-1 in B Cells.

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences·2026
Same journal

Global Trends in Light Pollution and Their Relationship With Socioeconomic Factors.

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences·2026
Same journal

Wired for Corruption: Inter-Brain Synchrony Encodes Bribery-Related Value Information and Predicts Bribery Agreement.

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences·2026
Same journal

LM-YOLO: A Lightweight Multi-Scale Enhanced Model for Forest Smoke Detection Using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles.

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences·2026
Same journal

Polyrhythm Perception and Production: A Scoping Review.

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences·2026
Same journal

DARTS-CNN-BiLSTM: Intelligent Fault Diagnosis for Computer Numerical Control Machine Tool Feed System.

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences·2026
See all related articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Apr 28, 2026

Experimental Manipulation of Body Size to Estimate Morphological Scaling Relationships in Drosophila
06:00

Experimental Manipulation of Body Size to Estimate Morphological Scaling Relationships in Drosophila

Published on: October 1, 2011

16.1K

Evolution of morphological allometry.

Christophe Pélabon1, Cyril Firmat, Geir H Bolstad

  • 1Department of Biology, Centre for Biodiversity Dynamics, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway.

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
|June 11, 2014
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Morphological allometry, the relationship between body size and parts, may constrain evolution. While some evidence suggests this, more research is needed to understand natural selection

Keywords:
adaptationallometryevolutionary constraintgrowthmacroevolutionmicroevolutionscalingshapesize

More Related Videos

Dissection, MicroCT Scanning and Morphometric Analyses of the Baculum
04:32

Dissection, MicroCT Scanning and Morphometric Analyses of the Baculum

Published on: March 19, 2017

7.3K
Modeling the Size Spectrum for Macroinvertebrates and Fishes in Stream Ecosystems
07:41

Modeling the Size Spectrum for Macroinvertebrates and Fishes in Stream Ecosystems

Published on: July 30, 2019

7.1K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Apr 28, 2026

Experimental Manipulation of Body Size to Estimate Morphological Scaling Relationships in Drosophila
06:00

Experimental Manipulation of Body Size to Estimate Morphological Scaling Relationships in Drosophila

Published on: October 1, 2011

16.1K
Dissection, MicroCT Scanning and Morphometric Analyses of the Baculum
04:32

Dissection, MicroCT Scanning and Morphometric Analyses of the Baculum

Published on: March 19, 2017

7.3K
Modeling the Size Spectrum for Macroinvertebrates and Fishes in Stream Ecosystems
07:41

Modeling the Size Spectrum for Macroinvertebrates and Fishes in Stream Ecosystems

Published on: July 30, 2019

7.1K

Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Developmental Biology
  • Quantitative Genetics

Background:

  • Morphological allometry describes how body parts covary with body size.
  • Allometric relationships are often consistent across growth, individuals, and species.
  • This consistency has led to the hypothesis that allometry constrains evolutionary trajectories.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review evidence for and against the hypothesis that allometry constrains phenotypic evolution.
  • To clarify the definition of allometry, focusing on Huxley's narrow-sense power-law definition.
  • To assess whether allometric relationships are constraints or adaptations shaped by natural selection.

Main Methods:

  • Literature review focusing on studies examining morphological allometry.
  • Analysis of evidence supporting and refuting the allometry-as-a-constraint hypothesis.
  • Distinction between broad (any monotonic relationship) and narrow-sense (power-law) definitions of allometry.

Main Results:

  • Some studies show low evolvability and evolutionary invariance of static allometric slopes.
  • These findings suggest a potential constraining effect of allometry on phenotypic evolution.
  • The role of natural selection in shaping allometric relationships remains under-investigated.

Conclusions:

  • The hypothesis that allometry constrains evolution is supported by some evidence of low evolvability.
  • However, definitive conclusions are hindered by a lack of understanding of selection acting on allometry.
  • Further research is needed to differentiate between allometry as a constraint versus an adaptation.