Ontogeny

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Ontogeny (also ontogenesis or morphogenesis)(ontos present participle of 'to be', genesis 'creation') describes the origin and the development of an organism from the fertilized egg to its mature form. Ontogeny is studied in developmental biology, developmental psychology, and developmental psychobiology.

In more general terms, ontogeny is defined as the history of structural change in a unity, which can be a cell, an organism, or a society of organisms, without the loss of the organization that allows that unity to exist (Maturana and Varela, 1987, p. 74).

[edit] See also

• Recapitulation theory, the idea that ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny
• Important publications in ontogeny

[edit] References

• Maturana, H. R., Varela F. J. (1987). The Tree of Knowledge: The Biological Roots of Human Understanding. Boston: Shambhala Publications Inc.

[edit] External links

v • d • e The development of phenotype Key concepts Genotype-phenotype distinction · Norms of reaction · Gene-environment interaction · Heritability · Quantitative genetics Genetic architecture Dominance relationship · Epistasis · Polygenic inheritance · Pleiotropy · Plasticity · Canalisation · Fitness landscape Non-genetic influences Epigenetics · Maternal effect · Dual inheritance theory Developmental architecture Segmentation · Modularity Evolution of genetic systems Evolvability · Mutational robustness · Evolution of sex Influential figures C. H. Waddington · Richard Lewontin Debates Nature versus nurture List of evolutionary biology topics