ibclogo XVI International Botanical Congess


Abstract Number: 4069
Session = 4.7.3


TESTING THE TELOME THEORY: A DEVELOPMENTAL MODELING APPROACH TOEXAMINE THE MACROEVOLUTIONARY CHANGES IN EARLY VASCULAR PLANTS


James S. Boyer and William E. Stein, Department of Biology, S.U.N.Y., Binghamton, NY 13902


An underlying developmental mechanism in Devonian plants was first noted by Zimmermann in the Telome Theory. In order to test Zimmermann's ideas, I have employed modeling techniques to ascertain developmental information from the fossil record. Using comparative methods from living taxa and morphometrics from fossil taxa, the model simulates the growth and development of an ancestral plant. The ancestral algorithm has been manipulated to produce the morphology of an immediately derived taxon. These alterations represent possible evolutionary changes that occurred between ancestral-derscendant groups. This model presents a hypothetico- deductive method for testing homologies in the fossil record. The mechanistic approach of this model allows for a detailed description of the theoretical 'elementary processes' proposed by Zimmermann. The strength of the model lies in the ability to test the validity of the Telome Theory and propose a quantifiable process of change that occurred between ancestor-descendant groups.


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