Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 10, 2026
10:14
Author Spotlight: Leaf Trait Analysis for Climate and Ecology Reconstruction in Modern and Ancient Plant Communities
Published on: October 25, 2024
4.2K
Morphological homeostasis in the fossil record
1Department of the Geophysical Sciences, University of Chicago, 5734 South Ellis Avenue, Chicago, IL, 60637, USA.
Seminars in Cell & Developmental Biology
|May 23, 2018
Summary
Morphological homeostasis, robustness to developmental noise, can be studied in fossils using fluctuating asymmetry. This research offers insights into long-term evolutionary constraints and developmental systems.
Area of Science:
- Paleontology
- Evolutionary Biology
- Developmental Biology
Background:
- Morphological homeostasis limits phenotypic variation, offering fitness advantages under stabilizing selection.
- It can also constrain trait evolution over long timescales, impacting evolutionary rates.
- Fossils provide a unique window into ancient developmental systems and evolutionary processes.
Observation:
- Studying morphological homeostasis in fossils is challenging due to taphonomic processes and data limitations.
- Genetic and macroenvironmental canalization are difficult to assess in the fossil record.
- Homeorhesis, robustness to developmental noise, can be measured via fluctuating asymmetry (FA) in fossilized traits.
Findings:
- Fluctuating asymmetry (FA) analysis in fossils allows assessment of homeorhesis in ancient developmental systems.
- This method requires high-quality, minimally time-averaged fossil samples.
- Few empirical studies have explored FA in fossils to date.
Implications:
- Fossil FA studies can significantly advance understanding of the deep-time significance of homeorhesis.
- Future research can link homeorhesis to evolutionary rates, stasis, and macroevolutionary trends.
- This approach may reveal insights into primitive developmental systems not evident in modern organisms.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
02:56The Fossil Record
27.5K
The fossil record documents only a small fraction of all organisms that have ever inhabited Earth. Fossilization is a rare process, and most organisms never become fossils. Moreover, the fossil record only exhibits fossils that have been discovered. Nevertheless, sedimentary rock fossils of long-lived, abundant, hard-bodied organisms dominate the fossil record. These fossils offer valuable information, such as an organism's physical form, behavior, and age. Studying the fossil record helps...
27.5K
01:16What is Homeostasis?
56.8K
Maintaining homeostasis requires that the body continuously maintain its internal conditions. Each physiological condition has a particular set point, from body temperature to blood pressure to levels of certain nutrients. A set point is the physiological value around which the normal range fluctuates. A normal range is a restricted set of values that is optimally healthful and stable. For example, the set point for normal human body temperature is approximately 37°C (98.6°F).
56.8K
01:31pH Homeostasis
19.5K
Acid-base homeostasis is essential for maintaining normal physiological activities in humans. The pH of various body fluids is strictly regulated because it is critical for the optimal activity of enzymes involved in metabolic reactions. Enzymes are basically proteins, so, any significant change in pH can affect their structure and activity. In humans, pH is regulated using three primary mechanisms— chemical buffer systems, respiratory regulation, and renal regulation.
Respiratory...
Respiratory...
19.5K
01:21Skeleton and Calcium Homeostasis
6.0K
Calcium is not only the most abundant mineral in bone but also the most abundant mineral in the human body. Calcium ions are needed for bone mineralization, tooth health, heart rate regulation and strength of contraction, blood coagulation, the contraction of smooth and skeletal muscle cells, and the regulation of nerve impulse conduction. The average calcium level in the blood is about 10 mg/dL. When the body cannot maintain this level, a person will experience hypo or hypercalcemia.
6.0K
01:02Glucose Homeostasis: Regulation of Blood Glucose
4.3K
Carbohydrates consumed through foods are converted into glucose, a crucial energy source for the body. In the prandial state, high blood glucose levels stimulate the secretion of insulin from the pancreas. Insulin inhibits hepatic glucose production and stimulates glucose uptake and metabolism by muscle and adipose tissue. The excess glucose is converted into glycogen and stored in the liver and muscles.
During fasting, when blood glucose levels are low, the pancreas secretes glucagon. it...
During fasting, when blood glucose levels are low, the pancreas secretes glucagon. it...
4.3K
01:29Microbial Morphologies
3.8K
Bacterial and archaeal cells exhibit remarkable diversity in shape and structure, critical in their adaptability and functionality. Among bacteria, the most commonly observed shapes include cocci and bacilli. Cocci are spherical and may exist singly or in groupings such as pairs (diplococci), chains (streptococci), clusters (staphylococci), or tetrads. Bacilli, in contrast, are rod-shaped and can also occur as single cells, in pairs, or chains, depending on their environmental and genetic...
3.8K