ReviewEcology and evolution2021
(Non)Parallel developmental mechanisms in vertebrate appendage reduction and loss.
Review in Ecology and evolution, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.
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Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed.
- Models in Evo-Devo: An Evolving Niche.Results and problems in cell differentiation · 2026Review
- Evolution of cetacean-specific conserved non-coding elements suggests their role in the limb changes during secondary aquatic adaptation.BMC biology · 2025Article
- Article
- Functional evidence supports the potential role of Tbx4-HLEA in the hindlimb degeneration of cetaceans.EvoDevo · 2025Article
- Multi-level genomic convergence of secondary aquatic adaptation in marine mammals.Innovation (Cambridge (Mass.)) · 2025Article
- Same trait, different genes: pelvic spine loss in three brook stickleback populations in Alberta, Canada.Evolution letters · 2025Article
- Novel function of Hox13 in regulating outgrowth of the newt hindlimb bud through interaction with Fgf10 and Tbx4.Development, growth & differentiation · 2025Article
- Attempting genetic inference from directional asymmetry during convergent hindlimb reduction in squamates.Ecology and evolution · 2022Article
- (Non)Parallel developmental mechanisms in vertebrate appendage reduction and loss.Ecology and evolution · 2021Review
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
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Abstract
Appendages have been reduced or lost hundreds of times during vertebrate evolution. This phenotypic convergence may be underlain by shared or different molecular mechanisms in distantly related vertebrate clades. To investigate, we reviewed the developmental and evolutionary literature of appendage reduction and loss in more than a dozen vertebrate genera from fish to mammals. We found that appendage reduction and loss was nearly always driven by modified gene expression as opposed to changes in coding sequences. Moreover, expression of the same genes was repeatedly modified across vertebrate taxa. However, the specific mechanisms by which expression was modified were rarely shared. The multiple routes to appendage reduction and loss suggest that adaptive loss of function phenotypes might arise routinely through changes in expression of key developmental genes.
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