Mosaic evolution
Mosaic evolution is a term from evolutionary research and describes the evolutionary change of characteristics in one or more body parts without simultaneous changes in other body parts. According to this basic evolutionary principle, the characteristics that make up a taxon develop independently of one another, for example at different times or at different speeds. For example, in human tribal history, changes in the pelvic girdle that made two-legged walking possible occurred long before there were any noticeable changes in skull shape and size. Mosaic evolution is particularly evident in mosaic forms (transitional forms) that combine features of two taxa like in a mosaic , such as the "primeval bird" Archeopteryx or the platypus . Simultaneous occurrence of derived ( apomorphic ) and original ( plesiomorphic ) features in the same organism is also referred to as heterobathmia ("different levels ").
The term mosaic evolution is also used when derived and original features are interchanged. For example, the early sauropod dinosaur Archaeodontosaurus shows original teeth in combination with a derived jaw. In other early representatives of his group, the reverse order is usually found with an original jaw and derived teeth.
Individual evidence
- ^ Robert C. King, William D. Stansfield, Pamela K. Mulligan: A Dictionary of Genetics . Oxford University Press, 2006, ISBN 978-0-19-530761-0 , pp. 286 .
- ↑ Robert Jurmain: Introduction to physical anthropology . Wadsworth, 2000, ISBN 978-0-534-51463-1 , pp. 479 .
- ↑ a b Rolf Sauermost, Doris Freudig: Lexicon of Biology: in fifteen volumes . Lyolysis to Nautococcus. Spectrum, Akad. Verl., Heidelberg 2002, ISBN 3-8274-0334-0 , pp. 352-353 .
- ^ E. Buffetaut: A new sauropod dinosaur with prosauropod-like teeth from the Middle Jurassic of Madagascar . In: Bulletin de la Societe Geologique de France . tape 176 , no. 5 , 2005, p. 467-473 ( [1] ).