Co-opting evo-devo concepts for new insights into mechanisms of behavioural diversity

ABSTRACT We propose that insights from the field of evolutionary developmental biology (or ‘evo-devo’) provide a framework for an integrated understanding of the origins of behavioural diversity and its underlying mechanisms. Towards that goal, in this Commentary, we frame key questions in behavioural evolution in terms of molecular, cellular and network-level properties with a focus on the nervous system. In this way, we highlight how mechanistic properties central to evo-devo analyses – such as weak linkage, versatility, exploratory mechanisms, criticality, degeneracy, redundancy and modularity – affect neural circuit function and hence the range of behavioural variation that can be filtered by selection. We outline why comparative studies of molecular and neural systems throughout ontogeny will provide novel insights into diversity in neural circuits and behaviour. Summary: Developmental processes bias the effects of mutations on behaviour and its underlying mechanisms, including neural circuits and endocrine systems. These biases shape behavioural evolution by limiting the behavioural phenotypes that are subject to selection.