“…Neutral models predict that gene paralogs eventually diverge by differential loss of functionalities, which has found support in large-scale analyses of expression domain evolution in duplicated genes (Lynch and Conery, 2000;Oakley et al, 2006;Mendonca et al, 2011). Recent gene-specific and genome-wide studies, however, produced evidence for a role of genetic redundancy in securing developmental, genetic, and environmental robustness over hundreds of millions of years in part through conservation of genetically redundant gene paralogs (Celniker et al, 2002;Maslov et al, 2004;Pasek et al, 2006;Dean et al, 2008;Vavouri et al, 2008;Yang et al, 2009;Bao et al, 2012;Buscà et al, 2015). As an example, the recent discovery of partially, yet longterm conserved redundant roles of paralogs of the Drosophila lineage expanded MADF-BESS transcription factor family in the development of the wing hinge has been proposed to be explained by the benefit of developmental robustness (Shukla et al, 2014).…”