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Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-03044-2 - How the Snake Lost Its Legs: Curious Tales from the Frontier of Evo-Devo Lewis I. Held Frontmatter More information How the Snake Lost its Legs Curious Tales from the Frontier of Evo-Devo How did the zebra really get its stripes, and the giraffe its long neck? What is the science behind camel humps, leopard spots, and other animal oddities? Such questions have fascinated us for centuries, but the expanding field of evo-devo (evolutionary developmental biology) is now providing, for the first time, a wealth of insights and answers. Taking inspiration from Kipling’s Just So Stories, this book weaves emerging insights from evo-devo into a narrative that provides startling explanations for the origin and evolution of traits across the animal kingdom. The author’s unique and engaging style makes this narrative both enlightening and entertaining, guiding students and researchers through even complex concepts and encouraging a fuller understanding of the latest developments in the field. The first five chapters cover the first bilaterally symmetric animals, flies, butterflies, snakes, and cheetahs. A final chapter surveys recent results about a menagerie of other animals. Lewis I. Held, Jr. is Associate Professor of Biology at Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas, USA. He has taught developmental biology and human embryology to pre- medical students for twenty-seven years, and received the 2010 Professing Excellence Award and the 1995 President’s Excellence in Teaching Medal (Texas Tech University). He is also the author of Quirks of Human Anatomy (Cambridge, 2009), Imaginal Discs (Cambridge, 2002), and Models for Embryonic Periodicity (Karger, 1992). © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-03044-2 - How the Snake Lost Its Legs: Curious Tales from the Frontier of Evo-Devo Lewis I. Held Frontmatter More information Frontispiece Legless or partially legless lizards, some of which resemble snakes to a remarkable extent. Numbers next to legs in each panel (and in parentheses in this legend) are the number of digits per foreleg or hindleg respectively if present. (a) Lerista dorsalis (4+4). (b) Hemiergis decresiensis (3+3). (c) Lerista desertorum (2+3). (d) Lerista timida (3+3). (e) Lerista edwardsae (0+2). (f) Anomalopus verreauxii (3+1). (g) Ophioscincus truncatus (0+0). (h) Pygopus lepidopodus (0+0). Leg loss is common among lizards and may have occurred for the same reason as leg loss in snakes. All photographs were taken by Mark Hutchinson, South Australia Museum, Adelaide, and are used by permission. For color plate see color section. © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-03044-2 - How the Snake Lost Its Legs: Curious Tales from the Frontier of Evo-Devo Lewis I. Held Frontmatter More information How the Snake Lost Its Legs Curious Tales from the Frontier of Evo-Devo LEWIS I. HELD, JR. Texas Tech University, USA © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-03044-2 - How the Snake Lost Its Legs: Curious Tales from the Frontier of Evo-Devo Lewis I. Held Frontmatter More information University Printing House, Cambridge CB2 8BS, United Kingdom Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York Cambridge University Press is part of the University of Cambridge. It furthers the University’s mission by disseminating knowledge in the pursuit of education, learning and research at the highest international levels of excellence. www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9781107030442 C L. I. Held, Jr. 2014 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 2014 Printed in the United Kingdom by TJ International Ltd. Padstow Cornwall A catalog record for this publication is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication data Held, Lewis I., 1951– How the snake lost its legs : curious tales from the frontier of evo-devo / Lewis I. Held, Jr. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-107-03044-2 (hardback) – ISBN 978-1-107-62139-8 (paperback) 1. Evolution (Biology) 2. Developmental biology. I. Title. QH366.2.H435 2014 576.8 – dc23 2013039531 ISBN 978-1-107-03044-2 Hardback ISBN 978-1-107-62139-8 Paperback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate. © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-03044-2 - How the Snake Lost Its Legs: Curious Tales from the Frontier of Evo-Devo Lewis I. Held Frontmatter More information Contents Preface page ix 1 The first two-sided animal 1 Why the chordate flipped upside down 3 What the urbilaterian looked like 6 How the urbilaterian got its symmetry 11 2 The fly 15 How the fly got its gyroscopes 15 How the fly tattooed its arms 24 Why the fly twirls his penis 34 3 The butterfly 43 How the butterfly got its scales 43 How the butterfly got its spots 46 How the swallowtail got its tail 60 How the caterpillar got its hindlegs 63 How insects lost their hindlegs 69 How insects got their wings 70 4 The snake 75 How the snake lost its legs 75 How the snake elongated its body 81 How the snake rebuilt its eyes 85 How the snake got its (forked) tongue 89 How the snake got its fangs 91 5 The cheetah 95 Why animals decorate their skin 95 How animals decorate their skin 95 How the angelfish got its stripes 100 © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-03044-2 - How the Snake Lost Its Legs: Curious Tales from the Frontier of Evo-Devo Lewis I. Held Frontmatter More information vi Contents How the zebrafish got its stripes 103 How the zebra got its stripes 106 How the cheetah got its spots 107 How the mouse makes waves 109 How the clouded leopard makes clouds 111 6 An evo-devo bestiary 115 How the ant lost its wings 115 How the ape lost its tail 116 How the bat got its wings 117 How the bee got its pollen basket 117 How the beetle got its horns 118 How the bird got its beak and lost its teeth 119 How the camel got its hump 119 Why the centipede has odd segments 120 How the crocodile got its (facial) scales 120 How the deer regrows his antlers 121 How the duck got its bill 121 How the duck-billed platypus got its bill 122 How the echinoderm got its pentamery 122 How the elephant got six toes 123 How the firefly got its flashlight 124 How the flatfish got its (funny) face 124 How the frog got its (jumping) legs 125 How the giraffe stretched its neck 126 How the horse got its hooves 127 How the insect got its (stiff) upper lip 127 How the jerboa got its (jumping) hindlegs 128 How the kiwi almost lost its eyes 128 How the ladybird got its elytra 129 How the lion got his mane 129 How the manatee lost its hindlegs 130 How the newt regrows its legs 131 How the octopus got its arms 131 How the pterosaur got its wings 132 How the quagga lost its hind stripes 132 How the quetzal got its crest 133 Why the quoll kills its babies 133 How the remora got its sucker 134 How the rhinoceros got its horn 134 How the rodent got its incisors 135 How the sabertooth cat got its canines 135 How the seahorse got its shape 136 © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-03044-2 - How the Snake Lost Its Legs: Curious Tales from the Frontier of Evo-Devo Lewis I. Held Frontmatter More information Contents vii How the stalk-eyed fly got its stalks 136 How the stickleback lost its pelvic spines 137 How the swordtail got his sword 137 How tetrapods got their toes 138 How the tiger makes its stripes 138 How the treehopper got its helmet 139 How the turtle got its shell 140 How the uakari went bald 140 How the unicorn got its tusk 141 How the vampire bat reinvented running 143 How the whale got its flippers 144 How the xenarthran stretched its neck 144 How the yeti lobster got its mittens 145 How the zebu got its dewlap 146 Epilogue 147 Glossary 149 References 157 Index 279 Color plate section appears between pages 112 and 113. © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-03044-2 - How the Snake Lost Its Legs: Curious Tales from the Frontier of Evo-Devo Lewis I. Held Frontmatter More information © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-03044-2 - How the Snake Lost Its Legs: Curious Tales from the Frontier of Evo-Devo Lewis I. Held Frontmatter More information Preface The most famous accounts of animal origins in Western literature are those of Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936). His Just So Stories (1902) offered fabulous tales about how the leopard got its spots, how the elephant got its trunk, and so forth.