Losing Complexity: The Role of Simplification in Macroevolution. (August 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: O'Malley, Maureen A.; Wideman, Jeremy G.; Ruiz-Trillo, Iñaki
• Is Part Of: Trends in ecology & evolution. Volume 31:Number 8(2016)
• Page Start: 608
• Page End: 621
• Publication Date: 2016-08
• Subjects: Ecology -- Periodicals; Evolution (Biology) -- Periodicals; 576.8
• DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2016.04.004
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0169-5347

Abstract

Abstract : Macroevolutionary patterns can be produced by combinations of diverse and even oppositional dynamics. A growing body of data indicates that secondary simplifications of molecular and cellular structures are common. Some major diversifications in eukaryotes have occurred because of loss and minimalisation; numerous episodes in prokaryote evolution have likewise been driven by the reduction of structure. After examining a range of examples of secondary simplification and its consequences across the tree of life, we address how macroevolutionary explanations might incorporate simplification as well as complexification, and adaptive as well as nonadaptive dynamics. Trends: Simplification, the reduction of biological complexity at different levels, has received less scientific attention than complexification. Large bodies of data (molecular, ultrastructural, morphological, and behavioural) now reveal that simplification occurs across the tree of life, with far-reaching consequences. Simplification has driven the diversification of many eukaryotic lineages, through the reduction of parts and even losses of hierarchical complexity. Prokaryote evolution has been shaped by diverse simplification processes that give insight into past and present ecological circumstances. Simplification, just like complexification, can be either adaptive or nonadaptive. Selection for 'streamlining' cannot be universally assumed. Simplification and complexification interactions, and the macroevolutionary patterns they produce, are of major importance to evolutionary modelling.