ArticleProceedings. Biological sciences2019
The origins of novelty from within the confines of homology: the developmental evolution of the digging tibia of dung beetles.
Article in Proceedings. Biological sciences, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers.
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19 citing papers in PubMed, 34 citations in OpenAlex.
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- Allometry of appendages and antenna structures differs between sexes and male morphotypes of a polyphenic neotropical dung beetle.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2025Article
- Genetic and Phenotypic Divergence in a Dung Beetle 50 Years After Its Introduction to Australia.Ecology and evolution · 2024Article
- Adaptative Variation in a Neotropical Dung Beetle: Females and Gamma Males Present Tunneler Morphology, While Beta and Alpha Males Present Wing Morphology for Velocity.Ecology and evolution · 2024Article
- Bionic Design of High-Performance Joints: Differences in Failure Mechanisms Caused by the Different Structures of Beetle Femur-Tibial Joints.Biomimetics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
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- Vertically inherited microbiota and environment-modifying behaviors indirectly shape the exaggeration of secondary sexual traits in the gazelle dung beetle.Ecology and evolution · 2023Article
- Notch Signaling in Insect Development: A Simple Pathway with Diverse Functions.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Review
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- Out from under the wing: reconceptualizing the insect wing gene regulatory network as a versatile, general module for body-wall lobes in arthropods.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2021Article
- Evolutionary and plastic variation in larval growth and digestion reveal the complex underpinnings of size and age at maturation in dung beetles.Ecology and evolution · 2021Article
- Article
- Wing serial homologues and the diversification of insect outgrowths: insights from the pupae of scarab beetles.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2021Article
- Evolution and plasticity of morph-specific integration in the bull-headed dung beetleEcology and evolution · 2020Article
- Notch signaling patterns head horn shape in the bull-headed dung beetle Onthophagus taurus.Development genes and evolution · 2020Article
- Article
- The origins of novelty from within the confines of homology: the developmental evolution of the digging tibia of dung beetles.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2019Article
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3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Understanding the origin of novel complex traits is among the most fundamental goals in evolutionary biology. The most widely used definition of novelty in evolution assumes the absence of homology, yet where homology ends and novelty begins is increasingly difficult to parse as evo devo continuously revises our understanding of what constitutes homology. Here, we executed a case study to explore the earliest stages of innovation by examining the tibial teeth of tunnelling dung beetles. Tibial teeth are a morphologically modest innovation, composed of relatively simple body wall projections and contained fully within the fore tibia, a leg segment whose own homology status is unambiguous. We first demonstrate that tibial teeth aid in multiple digging behaviours. We then show that the developmental evolution of tibial teeth was dominated by the redeployment of locally pre-existing gene networks. At the same time, we find that even at this very early stage of innovation, at least two genes that ancestrally function in embryonic patterning and thus entirely outside the spatial and temporal context of leg formation, have already become recruited to help shape the formation of tibial teeth. Our results suggest a testable model for how developmental evolution scaffolds innovation.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.