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X-WR-CALNAME:Oceans Seminar Series | Todd Oakley 
X-WR-TIMEZONE:Pacific Time (US & Canada)
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTAMP:20261009T141943Z
UID:tag:localist.com\,2008:EventInstance_52621797786893
DTSTART:20260508T190000Z
DTEND:20260508T200000Z
DESCRIPTION:Why Evolution Repeats: Reuse\, Contingency\, and Convergence fr
 om Genes to Phenotypes\n\nPredicting when evolution will repeat is a centr
 al challenge in biology\, with implications for evolutionary rescue\, biod
 iversity forecasting\, and bioengineering. In this talk\, I use examples f
 rom bioluminescence\, chiton visual systems\, and Medusozoa (~jellyfish) t
 o explore three influences on evolutionary repeatability: reuse of existin
 g components\, historical contingency\, and widespread molecular convergen
 ce. First\, studies of bioluminescence show how new traits arise through t
 he reuse of biochemical toolkits\, with repeated evolution built from shar
 ed components. Second\, work on chiton visual systems reveals strong path 
 dependence: different eye types evolve in relation to distinct structural 
 starting points\, even in similar environments. Finally\, analyses of adap
 tive molecular convergence across Medusozoa show that similar genetic solu
 tions evolve far more widely than expected and are not tightly linked to c
 onvergent phenotypes\, even across timescales approaching 700 million year
 s. Together\, these results illustrate how evolutionary repeatability—an
 d our ability to predict it—emerges from the interplay of historical con
 tingency and the adaptive reuse of available components.
GEO:36.621095;-121.904774
LOCATION:Hopkins Marine Station\, Boat Works
SUMMARY:Oceans Seminar Series | Todd Oakley 
URL;VALUE=URI:https://events.stanford.edu/event/oceans-seminar-series-todd-
 oakley
CATEGORIES:Class/Seminar
CATEGORIES:Lecture/Presentation/Talk
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