Fins into Limbs

by Hall, Brian K.

• ISBN13: 9780226313368
• ISBN10: 0226313360
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2007-02-01
• Publisher: Univ of Chicago Pr

Summary

Long ago, fish fins evolved into the limbs of land vertebrates and tetrapods. During this transition, some elements of the fin were carried over while new features developed. Lizard limbs, bird wings, and human arms and legs are therefore all evolutionary modifications of the original tetrapod limb. A comprehensive look at the current state of research on fin and limb evolution and development, this volume addresses a wide range of subjectsincluding growth, structure, maintenance, function, and regeneration. Divided into sections on evolution, development, and transformations, the book begins with a historical introduction to the study of fins and limbs and goes on to consider the evolution of limbs into wings as well as adaptations associated with specialized modes of life, such as digging and burrowing.Fins into Limbsalso discusses occasions when evolution appears to have been reversedin whales, for example, whose front limbs became flippers when they reverted to the wateras well as situations in which limbs are lost, such as in snakes. With contributions from world-renowned researchers,Fins into Limbswill be a font for further investigations in the changing field of evolutionary developmental biology.

Author Biography

Brian K. Hall is University Research Professor at Dalhousie University and fellow of the Centre for Human Biology at the University of Western Australia and the editor of the three-volume series The Skull, also published by the University of Chicago Press.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Evolution

Fins and Limbs and Fins into Limbs: The Historical Context, 1840–1940

Skeletal Changes in the Transition from Fins to Limbs

A Historical Perspective on the Study of Animal Locomotion with Fins and Limbs

Fins and Limbs in the Study of Evolutionary Novelties

Development

The Development of Fins and Limbs

Mechanisms of Chondrogenesis and Osteogenesis in Fins P. Eckhard Witten

Mechanisms of Chondrogenesis and Osteogenesis in Limbs

Apoptosis in Fin and Limb Development Vanessa Zuzarte-Luís

Joint Formation Charles W. Archer

Postnatal Growth of Fins and Limbs through Endochondral Ossification

Paired Fin Repair and Regeneration Marie-Andrée Akimenko

Tetrapod Limb Regeneration

Transformation

Evolution of the Appendicular Skeleton of Amphibians

Limb Diversity and Digit Reduction in Reptilian Evolution

Limbs in Mammalian Evolution

Skeletal Adaptations for Flight Stephen

Adaptations for Digging and Burrowing Nathan J. Kley

Aquatic Adaptations in the Limbs of Amniotes

Sesamoids and Ossicles in the Appendicular Skeleton

References

Contributors

Index

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