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Among the most important innovations in the history of life is the transition from single-celled organisms to more complex, multicellular organisms. Multicellularity has evolved repeatedly across the tree of life, resulting in the evolution of new kinds of organisms that collectively constitute a significant portion of Earth’s biodiversity and have transformed the biosphere. This volume examines the origins and subsequent evolution of multicellularity, reviewing the types of multicellular groups that exist, their evolutionary relationships, the processes that led to their evolution, and the conceptual frameworks in which their evolution is understood. This important volume is intended to serve as a jumping-off point, stimulating further research by summarizing the topics that students and researchers of the evolution of multicellularity should be familiar with, and highlighting future research directions for the field.
Foreword by Andrew H. Knoll
Acknowledgments
List of Contributors
Introduction: The Evolution of Multicellularity in Context
Theory and Philosophy
Getting at the Basics of Multicellularity
Multi-Level Selection of the Individual Organism
Life Cycles as a Central Organizing Theme for Studying Multicellularity
Aggregative Multicellularity
Eukaryote Aggregative Multicellularity: Phylogenetic Distribution and a Case Study of Its Proximate and Ultimate Cause in Dictyostelia
Group Formation: On the Evolution of Aggregative Multicellularity
Group Maintenance in Aggregative Multicellularity
Group Transformation: Fruiting Body and Stalk Formation
Clonal Multicellularity
Phylogenetics of Clonal Multicellularity
Group Formation: Hypotheses for the Evolution of Clonal Multicellularity
Group Maintenance in Clonal Multicellularity: Controlling Intra-organismal Evolution
Group Transformation: Life History Trade-offs, Division of Labor, and Evolutionary Transitions in Individuality
Life Cycles and Complex Multicellularity
The Single-Celled Ancestors of Animals: A History of Hypotheses
Convergent Evolution of Complex Multicellularity in Fungi
Genetic and Developmental Mechanisms of Cellular Differentiation in Algae
The Evolution of Complex Multicellularity in Streptophytes
Multi-Species Multicellular Life Cycles
Synthesis and Conclusions
Conclusion: The Future of Multicellularity Research
Index