Figure 1.

The phenotype is shape by a multitude of genetic and developmental processes. a, Few interactions among developmental processes impact the eventual phenotype leading to a clear picture of how genotype patterns phenotype. b, Developmental interactions occurring among tissues obscure our ability to fully trace the underlying genetic basis resulting in a phenotype that mostly reflects tissue-level processes. c, Developmental interactions occurring among structures can obscure our ability to understand both the genetic basis for a given trait, and the cellular and tissue level processes that may have impacted the shape of each structure. Gray arrows refer to interactions between levels that will go undetected due to the hierarchical nature of developmental processes.