Bodies in Motion: Evolution’s Shape-Shifting Story

Marlins, dolphins, sharks, and ichthyosaurs exhibit streamlined body plans, a striking case of convergent evolution among distantly related vertebrates inhabiting the open-waters. In this talk, I will present recent findings on the morphological and genomic pathways driving body elongation in pelagic cichlids from Lake Tanganyika—one of the most outstanding examples of rapid species diversification. From bones to genomes, these insights shed light on the evolutionary mechanisms underpinning adaptations to the pelagic environment.

Fingers and toes are segmented into individual bones that are connected by synovial joints. The number and size of these bones varies in different vertebrate species, to help generate diverse limb morphologies and functions. Given the range of numbers – from 1 joint in the human thumb to over 10 in the digits of whales – it has been speculated that self-organizing mechanisms may underlie these repetitive segmentation patterns.
We will discuss how – using embryonic single-cell molecular data, in vivo growth series, and mathematical modeling – we begin to understand how vertebrate digits are patterned during development, and how these patterns can change on an evolutionary timescale.

Since I was a kid, I love water in all the formats: ocean, rivers, streams, lakes, wetlands...and luckily I could study Biology and since then I have been working as limnologist carrying on studies of aquatic insects and other organisms in rivers, lakes, reservoirs...My favourite ones are the caddisflies (Triptera), they are insects that allow us to know the water quality. They live all over the World and they are very diverse and abundant. The larvae live in water and the adults are fliers.