Definition
Morphospace
A morphospace is an abstract space whose points represent possible biological forms. Its coordinates are chosen morphological descriptors, so nearby points correspond to similar forms and paths through the space represent change in form.
Coordinates
A morphospace is a modelling device. Its axes are not fixed by nature; they are selected according to the question being studied.
Typical coordinates might describe:
- size
- symmetry
- segment number
- curvature
- ratios between anatomical parts
Because the choice of coordinates matters, different morphospaces can describe the same organisms in different ways.
Development and regeneration
Morphospace is useful when morphogenesis is treated as navigation in a space of possible forms. A developing or regenerating system can then be described as moving from one region of morphospace to another.
In Michael Levin’s framework, this is especially useful because tissues appear to preserve or restore large-scale pattern. Damage displaces the system from a preferred region of morphospace, and subsequent growth acts to return it towards that region. This connects morphospace directly to homeostasis in anatomical form.
Examples
Evolutionary use
A morphospace for shells might use parameters such as expansion rate, translation rate, and whorl shape. Different shell forms then occupy different regions of the same abstract space.
Regenerative use
A damaged body plan can be viewed as a point in morphospace that lies away from the intact target form. Regeneration is then the process that moves the system back towards the region corresponding to the correct anatomy.