Project detail Title: Study of developmental homeostasis in relation to different kinds of stress: Developmental and evolutionary consequences. Duration: 01/10/2011 - 30/09/2013 Researcher(s): Principal investigator:  Van Dongen Stefan Co-principal investigator:  Leirs Herwig Fellow:  Breno Matteo Research Team(s): Evolutionary ecology group Abstract: Developmental homeostasis (or developmental buffering) is a key factor in evolutionary process because it can maintain phenotypic consistency in spite of environmental and genetic variation and because it can hide cryptic genetic variation from selection. Despite a large interest, the basis of canalization and developmental stability (DS), the two main components of developmental buffering, are little understood. The aim of the project is to investigate the relationship between canalization and DS and to gain insights into their basis by studying their patterns of variation in different model species.-