BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//ZContent.net//ZapCalLib 1.0//EN
CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
METHOD:PUBLISH
BEGIN:VEVENT
SUMMARY:Molecules and morphology in reconstructing the origins of vertebrat
 es: insights from weird body plans
LOCATION:Anatomy/Zoology Building W118
TZID:America/Denver
DTSTART:20121101T000000
UID:2026-04-20-16-52-15@natsci.colostate.edu
DTSTAMP:20260420T165215
Description:The origins of the vertebrates have been a topic of debate for 
 several centuries. Much of what we understand about the origins of our own
  complex body plan has been based on comparative morphological studies bet
 ween the body plan of vertebrates and the simpler\, basal chordate lineage
 s. Amphioxus\, one of these simple chordates\, is broadly considered to be
 st represent the early origins of our own phylum. Recently\, developmental
  biology has given additional molecular tools to further investigate verte
 brate origins. The conclusions from these studies have largely confirmed t
 hose reached from comparative morphology\, and cemented amphioxus as the o
 nly informative outgroup for understanding vertebrate evolution. Our work 
 adds a new perspective to the origins of vertebrates. Hemichordates are a 
 phylum closely related to chordates\, but with a divergent body plan organ
 ization. Despite this organizational and morphological disparity\, our det
 ailed studies during hemichordate early development reveal that hemichorda
 te and vertebrate basic axial patterning share exquisite similarities. Som
 e of these similarities are not shared between amphioxus and vertebrates d
 espite their much closer morphological affinities. I will discuss the impl
 ications of our findings for early vertebrate origins\, but also what our 
 data suggests about the rather loose connection between gene regulatory ne
 twork evolution and morphological innovation. 4:00 pm
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR