A release from developmental bias accelerates morphological diversification in butterfly eyespots
Oskar Brattström, Kwaku Aduse‐Poku, Erik van Bergen, Vernon French, Paul M. Brakefield
Abstract
Significance The concept of developmental bias argues that developmental processes can influence the direction of evolutionary change in morphology. We survey wing patterns across Mycalesina butterflies, focusing on a pattern element called eyespots. The relative color composition of these spots has been considered to be a prime example of developmental bias but had not been studied extensively in a phylogenetic context. We show that developmental bias is limiting the evolutionary independence of eyespot color composition but not size in most groups of Mycalesina butterflies. However, a release from developmental bias has enabled the Malagasy genus Heteropsis to evolve more diverse wing patterns. Using laboratory experiments, we investigate the developmental changes underlying this release.