IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
|
| Werdelin, L. | |
| Supernumerary teeth in Lynx lynx and the irreversibility of evolution | |
| 1987 Journal of Zoology (211): 259-266 | |
Supernumerary dental elements have been reported in _Lynx lynx_ by several authors. These features have been given different evolutionary interpretations by different commentators. I note here that, since these features are absent in the plesiomorphic sister-groups of _L. lynx_, they represent a true evolutionary reversal. If they were simply a retention of an evolutionarily older phenotype, we should expect to see them developed in at least one plesiomorphic sister-group. Such development of a previously hidden character can occur if it is genetically linked to features selected for, until it becomes phenotypically expressed, whereupon selection can act on the character itself. Since Dollo's law, which is the theoretical issue behind the present discussion, is not a law, but a rule, and, like all rules based on probabilitie, we should expect to find exceptions in the fossil record. Such exceptions are not rare, but few are as spectacular as the present one, in which the redeveloped feature is at least phenotypically identical with one which has been lost in the Felidae since the Miocene. |
|
 |
PDF files are only accessible to Friends of the Cat Group. Joining Friends of the Cat Group gives you unlimited access and downloads in the Cat SG Library for one year, and allows you to receive our newsletter Cat News (2 regular issues per year plus special issues). More information how to join here |
(c) IUCN/SSC Cat Specialist Group ( IUCN - The World Conservation Union) |