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SUMMARY:Evolutionary constraints shape the evolution of mammalian tooth cl
 asses - Alexa Sadier\, University of Montpellier
DTSTART:20260430T120000Z
DTEND:20260430T130000Z
UID:TALK244300@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:131500
DESCRIPTION:One of the central questions in evolutionary biology is how ne
 w morphological innovations arise. Despite major advances integrating pale
 ontology\, genomics\, and developmental biology\, we still lack a mechanis
 tic understanding of how novel traits emerge and diversify from highly con
 strained genomic and developmental programs. To address this question\, we
  use bats as a model system\, leveraging their exceptional ecological and 
 morphological diversity. Combining morphological\, genomic\, developmental
 \, and modeling approaches across multiple species\, we investigate the or
 igin and diversification of mammalian tooth classes\, a key evolutionary i
 nnovation underlying dietary diversification. I will first present new res
 ults on molar diversification\, showing that molar morphology evolves alon
 g distinct developmental trajectories that both follow and break conserved
  developmental constraints. I will then introduce our work on the developm
 ental cascades that pattern tooth classes\, and present a predictive model
  explaining the diversification of premolar and molar proportions through 
 interacting developmental rules. Finally\, I will also briefly explore the
  evolution of deciduous (milk) teeth in bats\, highlighting how their high
 ly specialized morphology\, shaped by functional constraints related to ea
 rly life history\, provides a complementary perspective on how development
 al programs can be repurposed across life stages. Together\, our results s
 how that developmental constraints do not simply limit evolution\, but act
 ively structure the space of possible phenotypes by channeling variation a
 long specific trajectories\, while allowing occasional shifts that generat
 e novel morphologies. These dynamics emerge from the interplay between con
 served developmental modules and more labile components of gene regulatory
  networks. Altogether\, this framework highlights how morphological innova
 tion arises not from the release of constraints\, but from their modulatio
 n across developmental time\, providing a general mechanism for the evolut
 ion of serial organs.
LOCATION:Part II Lecture Theatre\, Department of Zoology
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