Associate Professor Ingo Brigandt has guest-edited a special issue of the Journal of Experimental Zoology Part B: Molecular and Developmental Evolution, titled "Perspectives on Evolutionary Novelty and Evo-Devo."
An evolutionary novelty is an organismal structure or function in a species that is qualitatively different from any trait of the species' ancestors. Major biological efforts are devoted to account for the evolutionary origin of particular novelties, e.g., the origin of fins in fish or the fin-to-limb transformation. A characteristic feature of explanations of evolutionary novelty is that they require the coordination of ideas from many biological subdisciplines - an issue studied by Prof. Brigandt's research project on how interdisciplinary research and theoretical integration in contemporary biology work.
Containing nine contributions, the special issue exhibits the diversity of perspectives on evolutionary novelty found in current biology, with respect to the taxon studied, kinds of organismal traits addressed, disciplinary approaches taken, theoretical concerns pursued, and definition of novelty favoured.