The proposed symposium will be held at the annual meeting of the American Society of Zoologists, a broad based society which includes many developmental and evolutionary biologists. The proposed speakers are a group of developmental biologists who are interested in development as an evolutionary process. The program includes embryologists who study the embryos of closely related species with different larval forms, as well as geneticists and molecular biologists who compare genes governing the formation of the body plan during embryogenesis in different species. There is now evidence that embryonic changes can profoundly influence the life history of a species, especially in producing different larval forms. As more becomes known about the genes governing embryonic development, it may be possible to identify evolutionary constraints present in the elaboration of an embryo. One problem in this field has been lack of communication between evolutionary and developmental biologists. This symposium is designed to generate discussion between scientists in different disciplines, by exposing this group of developmental biologists to a wide ranging audience. The interaction should generate renewed interest in how embryos develop, and in how developmental changes may influence the evolutionary process.
