Such studies show that minor molecular changes can provide major anatomical shifts, all of which might prove pivotal in evolution.
Scientists have found that changes to Bmp proteins have been pivotal in the evolution of other parts of birds, like feathers and beaks.
The impression that Tottenham have rediscovered their 'vertical' style of play, the fact that Villas-Boas himself was a crucial part of the victory, and the small matter of three points against a quality side at such a crucial stage of the season, means this win might one day be considered pivotal in Spurs' evolution under their Portuguese tactician.
In the hope of reconstructing a pivotal step in evolution — the colonization of land by fish that learned to walk and breathe air — researchers have decoded the genome of the coelacanth, a prehistoric-looking fish whose form closely resembles those seen in the fossils of 400 million years ago.
Kovacs himself notes in today's announcement that "the past two and a half years have been pivotal in the evolution and rapid growth of Mozilla.
Buffering and/or compensatory mechanisms that counteract this progressive destabilization during functional adaptation are pivotal for protein evolution as well as protein engineering.
Dr Dyke, who is senior lecturer in vertebrate palaeontology at the University of Southampton, said: "This discovery sheds further doubt on the theory that the famous fossil Archaeopteryx - or 'first bird' as it is sometimes referred to - was pivotal in the evolution of modern birds.
This we argue is a fundamentally important property of the epigenetic regulatory system that in germ cells plays a pivotal role in evolution and in somatic cells in carcinogenesis.
Compelling evidence suggests that changes in cis-regulatory sequences and transcriptional regulation in general play a pivotal role in evolution [ 37, 40].
The homeobox genes are key components of developmental toolkit of animals, and it has been suggested that functional diversification of these genes through duplication and divergence was pivotal in the evolution of complex developmental and morphological features in bilaterian animals.
