Heterochrony and Targets of Selection

Abstract

To understand the importance of heterochrony in evolution, one of the main aspects that needs to be considered is the target of selection. By this we mean intrinsically generated structures are being preferentially selected under extrinsic regimes. We have demonstrated how the raw material for evolution can be produced at the intrapopulation level by the generation of heterochronic morphotypes as part of normal phenotypic variation. Extrapolating this to the interspecific level and above, we need to examine what is being selected, e.g., shape, size, life habits, behavior, or all of these.

... the search for explicative laws in natural facts proceeds in a tortuous fashion. In the face of some inexplicable facts you must try to imagine many general laws, whose connection with your facts escapes you. Then suddenly, in the unexpected connection of a result, a specific situation, and one of those laws, you perceive a line of reasoning that seems more convincing than the others. You try applying it to all similar cases, to use it for making predictions, and you will discover that your intuition was right.

Umberto Eco, The Name of the Rose