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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Nov 7, 2025

Microinjection for Transgenesis and Genome Editing in Threespine Sticklebacks

Microinjection for Transgenesis and Genome Editing in Threespine Sticklebacks

Published on: May 13, 2016

Integration drives rapid phenotypic evolution in flatfishes.

Kory M Evans¹, Olivier Larouche², Sara-Jane Watson³

¹Department of Biosciences, Rice University, Houston, TX 77005; kory.evans@rice.edu.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

|May 1, 2021

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Trait covariation, specifically strong integration, facilitated rapid evolutionary innovation in flatfish skull shape, enabling adaptation to new environments. This highlights integration

Keywords:

geometric morphometrics modularity phylogeny

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Published on: May 13, 2016

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Dissection and Flat-mounting of the Threespine Stickleback Branchial Skeleton

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Published on: May 7, 2016

Area of Science:

Evolutionary biology
Comparative anatomy
Paleontology

Background:

Evolutionary innovations drive organismal adaptation into new ecological niches.
Understanding the origins of evolutionary innovations remains a key challenge in biology.
Trait covariation patterns offer insights into how innovations arise.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the role of trait covariation in the rapid evolution of cranial asymmetry in flatfishes (Pleuronectiformes).
To reconstruct the evolutionary history of skull shape in carangarians using phylogenetic comparative methods.
To quantify patterns of integration and modularity across the skull during flatfish evolution.

Main Methods:

Three-dimensional geometric morphometrics to analyze skull shape.
Phylogenetic comparative analyses to reconstruct evolutionary trajectories.
Quantification of trait integration and modularity across the skull.

Main Results:

The evolution of cranial asymmetry in flatfishes was a rapid process.
This rapid evolution allowed flatfishes to colonize novel trait space and habitats.
Strong integration across the skull coordinated shape changes, facilitating this innovation.

Conclusions:

Trait integration plays a significant role in generating evolutionary innovation.
Integration synchronizes organismal responses to selective pressures, enabling rapid adaptation.
The study provides a model for understanding how major evolutionary transitions occur.