Journal
TRENDS IN ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION
Volume 29, Issue 6, Pages 336-346Publisher
ELSEVIER SCIENCE LONDON
DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2014.04.001
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Funding
- NSF [DEB 0640313, 0743724, BCS 0827546]
- Direct For Social, Behav & Economic Scie
- Division Of Behavioral and Cognitive Sci [0827546] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
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Cetacea (whales, dolphins, and porpoises) is a model group for investigating the molecular signature of macroevolutionary transitions. Recent research has begun to reveal the molecular underpinnings of the remarkable anatomical and behavioral transformation in this clade. This shift from terrestrial to aquatic environments is arguably the best-understood major morphological transition in vertebrate evolution. The ancestral body plan and physiology were extensively modified and, in many cases, these crucial changes are recorded in cetacean genomes. Recent studies have highlighted cetaceans as central to understanding adaptive molecular convergence and pseudogene formation. Here, we review current research in cetacean molecular evolution and the potential of Cetacea as a model for the study of other macroevolutionary transitions from a genomic perspective.
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