Skeletal Biology

Skeletal Biology

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The article is; A Model For Development And Evolution Of Complex Morphological Structures.  Published in 1991, the authors are;

• ATCHLEY, W. R – He was the head of Department of Genetics, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695-7614
• HALL, B. K.– He was in the Department of Biology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada B3H 4J1

The purpose of the article is to show the complex morphological structure of a mammal, how it develops and changes with time due to evolution and the factor of adaptation for better survival. The model is based on the premise that structural changes in the mammalian craniomandibular region is due to the act of natural selection that increases the strong and well adaptable features. Natural selection refines the process of integration of the various morphogenetic components in order for an organism to adapt to the different environmental changes that have occurred over time. The article focuses on the changes that have occurred on the skeletal and bone structure of mammals as far back as anthropology can proof.

The aim of the article is to establish that the morphological changes in the structure and functioning were due to several genetic and epigenetic factors. In order to establish the changes in which the current mammals change in their morphology, an embryo was closely examined in order to establish the developmental changes that occur in the organism before it achieves the final skeletal structure. The article addresses the development units; in this case the development units are the cellular condensation characteristics that are produced in the embryonic stage of the crest cells.

The methodology involved the use of the following as the items to be considered; the number of cell in the preskeletal condensation (n), the cell diffusion rate (r), the cell death rate (d), and the fraction of cells that is mitoti.............