The development and origin of animal body forms have long been intensely explored, from the analysis of morphological traits during antiquity to Newtonian mechanical conceptions of morphogenesis. Advent of molecular biology then focused most interests on the biochemical patterning and genetic regulation of embryonic development. Today, a view is arising of development of multicellular living forms as a phenomenon emerging from non-hierarchical, reciprocal mechanical and mechanotransductive interactions between biochemical patterning and biomechanical morphogenesis. Here we discuss the nature of these processes and put forward findings on how early biochemical and biomechanical patterning of metazoans may have emerged from a primitive behavioural mechanotransducive feeding response to marine environment which might have initiated the development of first animal multicellular organisms.

从古代形态特征的分析到牛顿的形态发生机械概念，动物体型的发展和起源长期以来一直被深入探索。分子生物学的出现随后将大部分兴趣集中在胚胎发育的生化模式和遗传调控上。今天，出现了一种观点，即多细胞生命形式的发展是生化模式和生物力学形态发生之间的非等级、互惠机械和机械转导相互作用产生的一种现象。在这里，我们讨论了这些过程的性质，并提出了关于后生动物的早期生化和生物力学模式如何来自对海洋环境的原始行为机械转导摄食反应的发现，这可能引发了第一个动物多细胞生物的发展。