6.2. Integrative functional morphology is the new evo-devo-eco
To understand the functional morphology of an organism, we
need to take into consideration its evolutionary history and the
developmental framework available to create the structures that
we observe.We also need to place that organism in the context ofits
environment in order to understand what performance attributes
may be under selection. In this way, experimental studies of functional
morphology can act as a way to test hypotheses bridging an
organism’s evolution, development, and ecology.
Take the case of the tail presented here. Paleontology presents a
number of ancestral milestones in the development of the axial
skeleton and gives a glimpse into the morphology that existed
under the ecological conditions relevant to the time of these early
organisms. To understand the selective pressures that would have
affected the fitness of an extinct organism, we need to know more
about performance advantages inherent to their morphology. We
can turn to similar morphologies of extant organisms, or use tools
like bioinspired robotics and computational models if a good living
analog does not exist.