Wednesday, February 27, 2008 How the Turtle Got Its Shell An Illustrated Presentation By Dr. Scott Gilbert 4:00 - 7:00 PM Lecture at 5:30 PM
Saltwater Terrapin. Zoology of New York by James E. De Kay. Albany, 1842.
The turtle's remarkable evolutionary novelty, its shell, represents a classic evolutionary problem - the appearance of a major structural adaptation. Evolutionary developmental biologist Dr. Scott Gilbert and "Team Turtle" at Swarthmore College have been studying this exact problem, and they have recently published the first comprehensive hypothesis for how the turtle shell forms. Dr. Gilbert will explain how the turtle's skeleton is unique among vertebrates, as no other has a casing made almost exclusively of bone. He will also describe the principles of "evo devo" biology and how they can explain the formation of novel body plans. Dr. Scott Gilbert is the author of Developmental Biology, a bestselling textbook now in its sixth edition. He joined the faculty of Swarthmore College in 1980 where he teaches developmental genetics, embryology and the history of biology. Dr. Gilbert is also the recipient of a grant from the National Science Foundation to study how the turtle forms its shell, and he continues to do research and write in both developmental biology and the history and philosophy of biology.
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