Introduction. A phylogenomic journey through the animal tree of life : key innovations in the evolution of Metazoa / Bernd Schierwater and Rob DeSalle -- Putting animals in their place within a context of eukaryotic innovations / Danielle Vazquez, Laura Wegener Parfrey, and Laura A. Katz -- Elucidating animal phylogeny : advances in knowledge and forthcoming challenges / Kevin M. Kocot, Johanna T. Cannon, and Kenneth M. Halanych -- Key transitions in animal evolution : a mitochondrial DNA perspective / Dennis V. Lavrov -- Pending issues in development and phylogeny of arthropods / Jean S. Deutsch -- The pre-nervous system and beyond : poriferan milestones in the early evolution of the metazoan nervous system / Michael Nickel -- A key innovation in evolution, the emergence of neurogenesis : cellular and molecular cues from cnidarian nervous systems / Brigitte Galliot -- From Cnidaria to "higher Metazoa" in one step / Ferdinando Boero and Stefano Piraino -- Basal metazoan sensory evolution / D.K. Jacobs ... [et al.] -- Cnidarian gene expression patterns and the origins of bilaterality : are cnidarians reading the same game plan as "higher" animals? / Eldon E. Ball ... [et al.] -- Key transitions during animal phototransduction evolution : co-duplication as a null hypothesis for the evolutionary origins of novel traits / Todd H. Oakley and David C. Plachetzki -- Vertebrate Hox genes and specializations in mammals / Claudia Kappen -- Field biology of placozoans (Trichoplax) : distribution, diversity, biotic interactions / Vicki Buchsbaum Pearse and Oliver Voigt -- Trichoplax and Placozoa : one of the crucial keys to understanding metazoan evolution / Bernd Schierwater ... [et al.] -- A food's-eye view of animal transitions / Neil W. Blackstone -- Lost in transition : the biogeochemical context of animal origins / Eric Gaidos -- Redefining stem cells and assembling germ plasm : key transitions in the evolution of the germ line / John Srouji and Cassandra Extavour -- Questions and discussion.
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SUMMARY OR ABSTRACT
Text of Note
"The origin of multicellular animals and how multicellularity evolved is one of those difficult and delicate biological problems that has been pondered over for centuries. This book attempts to summarize some of the more recent results in phylogenetics and developmental biology that address the evolution of key innovations in metazoans. The book has three main sections. The first section contains five chapters that address the phylogenetic issues involving this part of the tree of life. Even though modern genome technology has made it possible to study these issues using a vast information database the elucidation of the relationships in this part of the tree of life continues to be elusive. The second section of the book addresses some of the more prominent questions concerning the developmental biology of metazoan evolution. The topics in this section focus on nervous system development, sensory organ development and developmental systems. The third section of the book focuses on the evolution of pattern and process in the incredible forms of life that we call Metazoa. The topics covered in this part of the book include the evolution of life histories, ecological associations and the evolution of biogeochmical aspects of metazoa. The book has over 40 illustrations and an up to date bibliography of over 500 references. Each chapter concludes with a set of questions for study and discussion to assist instructors and students in delving more deeply into the topics covered by the seventeen chapters in the book"--
Text of Note
"The origin of multicellular animals is one of those difficult and delicate biological problems that have been pondered for centuries. This book summarizes recent results in phylogenetics and developmental biology that address the evolution of key innovations in metazoans. The first section covers phylogenetic issues. Focusing on nervous system and sensory organ development, the second section addresses prominent questions concerning the developmental biology of metazoan evolution. A third section discusses the evolution of pattern and process in the incredible forms of life that we call Metazoa and covers evolution of life histories and the evolution of biogeochemical aspects of metazoans. The book has over 40 illustrations and an up-to-date bibliography of over 500 references. Each chapter concludes with a set of questions for study and discussion."--