Version 1
: Received: 24 December 2020 / Approved: 25 December 2020 / Online: 25 December 2020 (13:31:09 CET)
Version 2
: Received: 1 March 2021 / Approved: 2 March 2021 / Online: 2 March 2021 (12:43:52 CET)
Wolfe, J.M.; Luque, J.; Bracken‐Grissom, H.D. How to Become a Crab: Phenotypic Constraints on a Recurring Body Plan. BioEssays 2021, 43, 2100020, doi:10.1002/bies.202100020.
Wolfe, J.M.; Luque, J.; Bracken‐Grissom, H.D. How to Become a Crab: Phenotypic Constraints on a Recurring Body Plan. BioEssays 2021, 43, 2100020, doi:10.1002/bies.202100020.
Wolfe, J.M.; Luque, J.; Bracken‐Grissom, H.D. How to Become a Crab: Phenotypic Constraints on a Recurring Body Plan. BioEssays 2021, 43, 2100020, doi:10.1002/bies.202100020.
Wolfe, J.M.; Luque, J.; Bracken‐Grissom, H.D. How to Become a Crab: Phenotypic Constraints on a Recurring Body Plan. BioEssays 2021, 43, 2100020, doi:10.1002/bies.202100020.
Abstract
A fundamental question in biology is whether phenotypes can be predicted by ecological or genomic rules. For over 140 years, convergent evolution of the crab-like body plan (with a wide and flattened shape, and a bent abdomen) at least five times in decapod crustaceans has been known as ‘carcinization’. The repeated loss of this body plan has been identified as ‘decarcinization’. We offer phylogenetic strategies to include poorly known groups, and direct evidence from fossils, that will resolve the pattern of crab evolution and the degree of phenotypic variation within crabs. Proposed ecological advantages of the crab body are summarized into a hypothesis of phenotypic integration suggesting correlated evolution of the carapace shape and abdomen. Our premise provides fertile ground for future studies of the genomic and developmental basis, and the predictability, of the crab-like body form.
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
