Presumed postlarval pentacrinoids from the Lower Devonian Hunsrück Slate,Germany

Several tiny crinoids with crowns as small as 1 mm, or less, in width are newly recognized from the Hunsrück Slate of southwestern Germany. The presence of erect arms above an amorphous calyx in some specimens can be inferred. Based on comparison with the size and gross morphology of developmental stages in living crinoids, these tiny Hunsrück crinoids are judged to be at an early postlarval stage that is analogous to the pentacrinoid stage just after development from the stalked, but armless, smaller cystidean larval stage found in both living comatulids and isocrinids. Some of these tiny crinoids have a stalk up to 4 mm long attached to a now pyritized former substrate. Their clustered occurrence suggests gregarious settlement of larvae. Taxonomic identification of these presumed pentacrinoids is not possible, even to the sub‐class level, although they are preserved with larger juveniles of the cladids Propoteriocrinus and Lasiocrinus. These larger juveniles exhibit 3‐D pyritized calcite plates, whereas the probable pentacrinoids appear to be preserved as flattened, micro‐crystalline pyritized dermal tissues that enclosed lightly calcified, porous ossicles. The pentacrinoids were likely buried within weeks or months of hatching, based on developmental stages in similar‐sized living crinoids. These tiny crinoids, presumably pentacrinoids, are a further example of the extraordinarily detailed preservation of delicate tissues in pyrite from the Hunsrück Slate. They are most likely the pentacrinoid stage from one or more of the crinoid taxa (30 genera) present in the Hunsrück Slate. Assuming these are not microcrinoids, they are the first report of pentacrinoids from the fossil record and document that a Palaeozoic sister group to modern crinoids had similar developmental stages.     

Reinterpretation of thecal plate homology and phylogeny in the Class Crinoidea

Since the Class Crinoidea was erected in 1821 there has been a consistent failure to resolve the phylogeny of this major group on even the coarsest scale. Reinterpretation of crinoid thecal plate homology, using the orientation of the stem rather than the position of the arms as a reference point for the theca, indicates that two-circlet (monocyclic) crinoids may be derived from three-circlet (dicyclic) taxa by the loss of any one of the three plate circlets in the theca rather than just the lowest circlet as has been assumed previously. Cladistic analysis utilizing this new homology, which is supported by evidence from ontogeny and from the position of other plates in the theca, suggests that Aethocrinus is sister group to all other crinoids and that the Cladida are primitive sister group to both the Disparida and Camerata. The Disparida, Hybocrinida and Perittocrinidae together represent a monophyletic clade. The Camerata also are monophyletic, but the orders Monobathrida and Diplobathrida can no longer be considered to represent natural taxa, with two-circlet camerates probably having evolved more than once. This reinterpretation of thecal plate homology sheds new light on the relationships between the major crinoid groups and the pattern of early crinoid evolution. □ Echinodermata, Crinoidea, homology, phylogeny.     

Oral Region Homologies in Paleozoic Crinoids and Other Plesiomorphic Pentaradial Echinoderms

The phylogenetic relationships between major groups of plesiomorphic pentaradial echinoderms, the Paleozoic crinoids, blastozoans, and edrioasteroids, are poorly understood because of a lack of widely recognized homologies. Here, we present newly recognized oral region homologies, based on the Universal Elemental Homology model for skeletal plates, in a wide range of fossil taxa. The oral region of echinoderms is mainly composed of the axial, or ambulacral, skeleton, which apparently evolved more slowly than the extraxial skeleton that forms the majority of the body. Recent phylogenetic hypotheses have focused on characters of the extraxial skeleton, which may have evolved too rapidly to preserve obvious homologies across all these groups. The axial skeleton conserved homologous suites of characters shared between various edrioasteroids and specific blastozoans, and between other blastozoans and crinoids. Although individual plates can be inferred as homologous, no directly overlapping suites of characters are shared between edrioasteroids and crinoids. Six different systems of mouth (peristome) plate organization (Peristomial Border Systems) are defined. These include four different systems based on the arrangement of the interradially-positioned oral plates and their peristomial cover plates, where PBS A1 occurs only in plesiomorphic edrioasteroids, PBS A2 occurs in plesiomorphic edrioasteroids and blastozoans, and PBS A3 and PBS A4 occur in blastozoans and crinoids. The other two systems have radially-positioned uniserial oral frame plates in construction of the mouth frame. PBS B1 has both orals and uniserial oral frame plates and occurs in edrioasterid and possibly edrioblastoid edrioasteroids, whereas PBS B2 has exclusively uniserial oral frame plates and is found in isorophid edrioasteroids and imbricate and gogiid blastozoans. These different types of mouth frame construction offer potential synapomorphies to aid in parsimony-based phylogenetics for exploring branching order among stem groups on the echinoderm tree of life.     

Early stalked stages in ontogeny of the living isocrinid sea lily Metacrinus rotundus

The early stalked stages of an isocrinid sea lily, Metacrinus rotundus, were examined up to the early pentacrinoid stage. Larvae induced to settle on bivalve shells and cultured in the laboratory developed into late cystideans. Three‐dimensional (3D) images reconstructed from very early to middle cystideans indicated that 15 radial podia composed of five triplets form synchronously from the crescent‐shaped hydrocoel. The orientation of the hydrocoel indicated that the settled postlarvae lean posteriorly. In very early cystideans, the orals, radials, basals and infrabasals, with five plates each in the crown, about five columnals in the stalk, and five terminal stem plates in the attachment disc, had already formed. In mid‐cystideans, an anal plate appeared in the crown. Late cystideans cultured in the field developed into pentacrinoids about 5 months after settlement. These pentacrinoids shared many crown structures with adult sea lilies. On the other hand, many features of the stalk differed from those in adult isocrinids, while sharing many characteristics with the stalk of feather star pentacrinoids, including disc‐like proximal columnals, high and slender median columnals, synarthrial articulations developmentally derived from the symplexial articulations, limited formation of cirri only in the proximal columnal(s), and an attachment disc. On the basis of these findings, phylogenetic relationships among extant crinoid orders are discussed.     

Evolutionary history of regeneration in crinoids (Echinodermata)

The fossil record indicates that crinoids have exhibited remarkable regenerative abilities since their origin in the Ordovician, abilities that they likely inherited from stem-group echinoderms. Regeneration in extant and fossil crinoids is recognized by abrupt differences in the size of abutting plates, aberrant branching patterns, and discontinuities in carbon isotopes. While recovery is common, not all lost body parts can be regenerated; filling plates and overgrowths are evidence of non-regenerative healing. Considering them as a whole, Paleozoic crinoids exhibit the same range of regenerative and non-regenerative healing as Recent crinoids. For example, Paleozoic and extant crinoids show evidence of crown regeneration and stalk regrowth, which can occur only if the entoneural nerve center (chambered organ) remains intact. One group of Paleozoic crinoids, the camerates, may be an exception in that they probably could not regenerate their complex calyx-plating arrangements, including arm facets, but their calyxes could be healed with reparative plates. With that exception, and despite evidence for increases in predation pressure, there is no compelling evidence that crinoids have changed though time in their ability to recover from wounds. Finally, although crinoid appendages may be lost as a consequence of severe abiotic stress and through ontogenetic development, spatiotemporal changes in the intensity and frequency of biotic interactions, especially direct attacks, are the most likely explanation for observed patterns of regeneration and autotomy in crinoids.     

THE EARLY RADIATION AND PHYLOGENY OF ECHINODERMS

1. Living echinoderms are characterized by an extensive water vascular system developed from the larval left hydrocoel, a complex, multi-plated endoskeleton with stereom structure, and pentamery. Fossil evidence shows that stereom evolved before pentamery, but both were acquired during the Lower Cambrian. 2. Cladistic analysis of Lower Cambrian genera reveals very few characters in common between carpoids and true echinoderms, and that the split between them was the first fundamental evolutionary dichotomy within the Dexiothetica. 3. Helicoplacoids are stem group echinoderms with spiral plating and three ambulacra arranged radially around a lateral mouth. They are the most primitive echinoderms and the first to show a radial arrangement of the water vascular and ambulacral systems. Unlike later echinoderms, their skeleton shows no dorsal/ventral (aboral/oral) differentiation. They were probably sedentary suspension feeders. 4. Camptostroma is the most primitive known pentaradiate echinoderm and, in our view, possibly a common ancestor of all living groups. It had a short conical dorsal (aboral) surface with imbricate plating, a ridged lateral wall and a slightly domed ventral (oral) surface with five curved ambulacra in a 2-1-2 arrangement inherited from the triradiate pattern of the helicoplacoids. Interambulacral areas bore epispires and the CD interambulacrum contained the anus, hydropore and/or gonopore. All parts of the theca had plates in at least two layers. 5. All other echinoderms belong to one of two monophyletic subphyla, the Pelmatozoa and the Eleutherozoa. 6. Stromatocystites is the earliest known eleutherozoan and differs from Camptostroma in having a test with only one layer of plates and having lost the dorsal elongation. In Stromatocystites the dorsal surface is flat and the plating tesselate. Stromatocystites was an unattached, low-level suspension feeder. 7. The lepidocystoids are the earliest known pelmatozoans. They differ from Camptostroma in having an attached dorsal stalk which retained the primitive imbricate plating, and by developing erect feeding structures along the ambulacra. In Kinzercystis, the ambulacra are confined to the thecal surface and erect, biserial brachioles arise alternately on either side. Lepidocystis has a similar arrangement except that, the distal part of each ambulacrum extends beyond the edge of the theca as a free arm. 8. Pelmatozoans diverged more or less immediately into crinoids, with multiple free arms composed of uniserial plates, and cystoids sensu lato, which retained brachioles. Gogia (Lower to Middle Cambrian) is the most primitive known cystoid and differs from Kinzercystis principally in having all plating tesselate, while Echmatocrinus (Middle Cambrian) is the most primitive known crinoid and differs from Lepidocystis in lacking brachioles and in having more than five free arms with uniserial plates. 9. Post Lower Cambrian differentiation of pelmatozoan groups proceeded rapidly, exploiting the primitive suspension-feeding mode of life. Maximum morphological diversity was reached in the Ordovician, but thereafter crinoids progressively displaced cystoid groups and reached their peak diversity during the Carboniferous. The eleutherozoans were slower to diversify, but by the Arenig the earliest ‘sea-stars’ (in reality, advanced members of the eleutherozoan stem group) had reversed their living orientation and had begun to exploit a deposit-feeding mode of life. These in turn led to the ophiuroids, echinoids and holothuroids. 10. The basic echinoderm ambulacrum was already present in the helicoplacoids. It had biserial, alternate flooring plates and complexly plated sheets of cover plates on either side. The radial water vessel lay in the floor of the ambulacrum, external to the body cavity, and gave rise ventrally to short, lateral branches (fore-runners of tube feet) that were used to open the cover plate sheets, and dorsally was connected to internal compensation sacs which acted as fluid reservoirs (and were preadapted for a role in gaseous exchange). Plating on the cover plate sheets was organized and reflected the positions of the lateral branches from the radial water vessel. In Camptostroma, the cover plate sheets had biserially aligned rows of cover plates associated with the lateral branches. 11. Brachioles arose by extension of the lateral branches of the radial water vessel and associated serially aligned cover plates found in Camptostroma. They bear a single alternate series of cover plates. In Lepidocystis the ambulacra extended beyond the edge of the oral surface as true arms. Brachial plates of arms are homologues of primary ambulacral flooring plates, and arms bear multiple series of cover plates. Uniserial ambulacral plating is a derived condition and evolved independently in crinoids, paracrinoids and isorophid edrioasteroids. Pinnules in crinoids arose independently in inadunates and camerates by a progressively more unequal branching of the arms. Thus all parts of the subvective system in crinoids are internally homologous, whereas in cystoids, brachioles and arms (or ambulacra) are not homologous structures. 12. The position of the hydropore is the best reference point in orientating echinoderms. Carpenter's system of identifying ambulacra by letters, arranged clock-wise in oral view with the A ambulacrum opposite the hydropore, is consistent in all echinoderm classes. In all Lower Cambrian pentaradiate echinoderms the anus, gonopore and hydropore lie in the CD interambulacrum and this is accepted as the primitive arrangement. In helicoplacoids we tentatively suggest that the A ambulacrum spiralled down from the mouth while the two ambulacra that spiralled up represent the B + C and D + E ambulacra combined. 13. The pelmatozoan stem arose from a polyplated stalk, via a meric stem to a true column with holomeric (single piece) columnals. This happened independently in the crinoids and the cystoids. 14. Our analysis of echinoderm phylogeny leads us to recommend the following changes to the higher level classification of echinoderms: The phylum Echinodermata includes only those groups with radial symmetry superimposed upon a fundamental larval asymmetry. It has a stem group that contains the triradiate helicoplacoids and a crown group to which all other (pentaradiate) echinoderms belong. The crown group contains two monophyletic subphyla, the Pelmatozoa and the Eleutherozoa, and the Pelmatozoa contains two superclasses, the Crinoidea which are extant and the Cystoidea, which are extinct.     

A re‐interpretation of the ambulacral system of Eumorphocystis (Blastozoa,Echinodermata) and its bearing on the evolution of early crinoids

Recent debates over the evolutionary relationships of early echinoderms have relied heavily on morphological evidence from the feeding ambulacral system. Eumorphocystis, a Late Ordovician diploporitan, has been a focus in these debates because it bears ambulacral features that show strong morphological similarity to early crinoid arms. Undescribed and well‐preserved specimens of Eumorphocystis from the Bromide Formation (Oklahoma, USA) provide new data illustrating that composite arms supported by a radial plate that bear a triserial arrangement of axial and extraxial components encasing a coelomic extension can also be found in blastozoans. Previous reports have considered these arm structures to be restricted to crinoids; these combined features have not been previously observed in blastozoan echinoderms. Phylogenetic analyses suggest that Eumorphocystis and crinoids are sister taxa and that shared derived features of these taxa are homologous. The evidence from the arms of Eumorphocystis suggests that crinoid arms were derived from a specialized blastozoan ambulacral system that lost feeding brachioles and strongly suggests that crinoids are nested within blastozoans.     

Epizoan encrustation on Marsupites testudinarius – additional argument favoring an epifaunal mode of life of uintacrinoids?

Uintacrinoids (Uintacrinoidea Zittel) are among the best-known Late Cretaceous crinoids, but owing to their unusual morphology and widespread distribution their mode of life has become a subject of much discussion. Of several competing hypotheses, nektonic, pseudoplanktonic, hemipelagic, semi-infaunal and epibenthic lifestyles have been suggested. Recent study synthesizing and extending previous data has shown that these crinoids were epibenthic, holding their arms vertically for feeding. However, evidence supporting a rheophilic epibenthic model over an alternative rheophobic semi-infaunal model is still limited. Here we report epizoans, mostly represented by serpulids and bryozoans, encrusting thecal plates of Marsupites testudinarius from the Lägerdorf in Germany. Although a definitive interpretation whether recorded infestations occurred syn vivo or post mortem is not certain, it is remarkable that all epizoans (or their traces) are attached to the convex side (latera) of well-preserved isolated plates displaying no signs of reworking. Furthermore, a bryozoan colony crossing plate boundaries has been also found on the surface of a sub-articulated theca suggesting that it may have been colonised syn vivo. Recorded epibiotic associations, whether syn vivo or post-mortem, must have developed prior to burial of the specimens, above the surface of sea floor, and thus provide another argument against rheophobic semi-infaunal mode of life of uintacrinoids.     

Ordovician Paracrinoids from the Baltic: Key Problems of Comparative Morphology of Pelmatozoan Echinoderms

The erect feeding appendages of paracrinoids, brachioles of typical blastozoans and arms of crinoids are morphologically similar in their terminal growth, biserial cover plates, and pinnulation. This is attributed to the inducing effect of the radial ambulacral canal on their growth mode. The uniserial brachioles of Laurentian paracrinoids are homologous to the biserial brachioles of the Baltic Achradocystites and Heckerites, and those of other blastozoans. Based on this assumption, the two Baltic genera, which have a brachiole system plesiomorphic for paracrinoids, and a similar morphology of the theca, are assigned to this class. Brachiolars in brachioles are a new development, homologous to the flooring plates of the food groove and, where present, are the continuations of these plates beyond the theca. The uniserial brachioles of Laurentian paracrinoids evolved from the biserial brachioles as a result of a gradual shift of brachiolars in the neighboring rows and their subsequent fusion in pairs. Brachials in crinoidal arms are a new development that evolved as distal serial growth of radial plates under the induced influence of the incipient radial canals emerging from the closed vestibular cavity, which was an ontogenetic innovation in crinoids. The transformation of a nonorganized small-plated theca into a large-plated, and completely or partly symmetrized theca, or vice versa is possible and results from accelerated or retarded growth of some plate generation in relation to the growth rate of the theca.     

The skeleton of the stalked stages of the comatulid crinoid Antedon bifida (Echinodermata)

Summary The cystidean calyx of Antedon bifida (Pennant, 1777) consists of two superposed series of five inter-radially located plates called basals (lower plates) and orals (upper plates). A single radianal and five radial plates develop in early pentacrinoids. They are radially located between the orals and the basals and alternate with them. During pentacrinoid life, radials grow continuously while orals progressively regress. Basals fuse to the proximal forming the so-called rosette, and the radianal grows till the anal cone is formed and then regresses. The first primibrachials arise in 25 day pentacrinoids. Arms of detached juveniles usually have 13 secundibrachials, with IIBr13 each having a developing pinnule. No infrabasal develops between the series of basals and the upper columnal.During pentacrinoid life, the stalk progressively changes from homeomorphic to xenomorphic while most columnal articulations change from symmorphies to synarthries. Synarthrial fulcral ridges can rotate about 60° from one columnal articulation to another, allowing the stalk to be flexible in every direction. Formation of new columnals is continuous until the proximal appears (i.e. in 65 day pentacrinoids). The number of columnals in the fully-formed pentacrinoid stalk varies from 17 to 24 depending on the individual. Developing cirri are seen in 70 day pentacrinoids. Detached juveniles have two well-developed series of five cirri, which usually consist of ten cirral ossicles.     

Colony formation of mammalian cells on agar plates and its application to Lederberg's replica plating

In this paper we describe a new technique of cloning by use of agar plates and its application to replica plating. It was found that most cell lines form colonies on the surface of solid agar, although the plating efficiency and size of colony is dependent on specimens and concentrations of agar and agarose used. When 0.5% Noble-agar was used as substrate, plating efficiencies were obtained comparable to those of conventional cloning techniques in liquid medium and of agar suspension cultures. In some cases, including the primary culture of Yoshida sarcoma, the efficiency of plating was apparently higher than that obtained by the already established procedures. In an experiment with a series of BHK-21 cells, it was found that virally transformed cells could form colonies on agar plate, whereas untransformed and reverted cells could not divide, suggesting that agar plate culture, as well as agar suspension culture, can be used for a selective assay of transformation.Two methods of replica plating were employed. Method I is that devised by Lederberg in which colonies on the master plate are imprinted on pile fabrics and then transferred to the replica plates. With FM3A cells, the fidelity of replica plating was around 95%. Method II is inoculation of clones by applying a glass rod to the replica plates on which positions of inocula were identified by a grid. Fidelity of replica plating of FM3A, L5178Y and YSC cells was 99.7, 100 and 100% respectively.     

Cephalic neural crest cells and the evolution of craniofacial structures in vertebrates: morphological and embryological significance of the premandibular-mandibular boundary

The vertebrate head characteristically has two types of mesenchyme: the neural crest-derived ectomesenchyme and the mesoderm derived mesenchyme. Conserved patterns of development in various animal taxa imply the presence of shared inductive events for cephalic mesenchyme. These developmental programs can serve as developmental constraints that emerge as morphological homology of embryonic patterns. To understand the evolutionary changes in the developmental programs that shape the skull, we need to separate ancestral and derived patterns of vertebrate craniogenesis. This review deals with the terminology for neural crest cell subpopulations at each developmental stage, based on the topographical relationships and possible mechanisms for specification. The aim is to identify the changes that could have occurred in the evolutionary history of vertebrates. From comparisons of a lamprey species, Lethenteron japonicum, with gnathostomes it is clear that the initial distribution of cephalic crest cells is identical in the two animal lineages. In all vertebrate embryos, the trigeminal crest (TC) cells of an early pharyngula are subdivided into three subpopulations. At this stage, only the posterior subpopulation of the TC cells is specified as the mandibular arch, as compared to the more rostral components, the 'premandibular crest cells'. Later in development, the local specification patterns of the lamprey and the gnathostomes differ, so that homology cannot be established in the craniofacial primordia, including the oral apparatus. Therefore, embryological terminology should reflect these hierarchical patterns in developmental stages and phylogeny.     

The validity of the Middle Devonian camerate crinoid species Hexacrinites hieroglyphicus (Goldfuss, 1839) and H. marginatus (Schultze, 1866)

The camerate crinoids Hexacrinites hieroglyphicus (Goldfuss, 1839) and H. marginatus (Schultze, 1866) are valid species known from the Lower Givetian of the synclines of Gerolstein and Hillesheim, Eifel Hills (westernmost Germany). As shown by the refigured holotypes and new material, they are mostly separated by the expressed ornamentation of radials and basals. The radials of H. hieroglyphicus are characterized by prominent, variously formed bulges, stretching preferably in a radiate pattern across most of the plates. They do not reach the low plate boundaries. Vice versa, H. marginatus shows expressed depressions in the central part of the plates, but raised plate margins. The first known crowns of H. marginatus are described; one of them is proposed as neotype for the lost original.     

An integrative approach to examining a homology question: shell structures in soft‐shell turtles

Understanding the patterns of shell reduction in turtles is relevant when examining both fossils and living forms. The soft‐shelled turtles (Trionychidae) are characterized by the general reduction of the peripheral bony elements of the carapace, and some species possess structures of contested homology. By examining Remane's ‘principal criteria’, we addressed the primary homology of the prenuchal and the posterior peripheral ossicles (= PPOs) of the Asian flapshell turtles, Lissemys spp., thus evaluating their topological equivalence, their structural quality, and the presence of intermediate forms in ontogeny and phylogeny. We conducted an analysis of gross morphology, bone histology, and ontogeny of these elements in a large sample of living and fossil trionychids and their sister‐group, the carettochelyids. We conclude that the prenuchal comprises a neomorphic structure that does not fulfil any of the homology criteria examined. The assessment of the homology of PPOs is less straightforward because of the presence of partly conflicting evidence. Nevertheless, PPOs and standard peripherals share an antero‐posterior polarity of the ossification pattern, which we interpret as a significant shared underlying developmental pattern. Depending on the phylogenetic position of Lissemys in trionychid phylogeny, the hypothesis of PPOs homology with standard peripherals is a straightforward one or, alternatively, one involving homologous developmental processes at other levels of the hierarchy, resulting in similar microstructural characteristics of these bony shell features. In this respect, we consider the antero‐posterior polarity of the ossification pattern of both PPOs and standard peripherals as providing potential evidence for the homology of the genetic control regulating the expression of both these structures, and therefore we interpret these structures as homologues on the basis of a deeply homologous underlying developmental process. © 2010 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2010, 99 , 462–476.     

An A/ENTH domain-containing protein functions as an adaptor for clathrin-coated vesicles on the growing cell plate in Arabidopsis root cells

Cytokinesis is the process of partitioning the cytoplasm of a dividing cell, thereby completing mitosis. Cytokinesis in the plant cell is achieved by the formation of a new cell wall between daughter nuclei using components carried in Golgi-derived vesicles that accumulate at the midplane of the phragmoplast and fuse to form the cell plate. Proteins that play major roles in the development of the cell plate in plant cells are not well defined. Here, we report that an AP180 amino-terminal homology/epsin amino-terminal homology domain-containing protein from Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) is involved in clathrin-coated vesicle formation from the cell plate. Arabidopsis Epsin-like Clathrin Adaptor1 (AtECA1; At2g01600) and its homologous proteins AtECA2 and AtECA4 localize to the growing cell plate in cells undergoing cytokinesis and also to the plasma membrane and endosomes in nondividing cells. AtECA1 (At2g01600) does not localize to nascent cell plates but localizes at higher levels to expanding cell plates even after the cell plate fuses with the parental plasma membrane. The temporal and spatial localization patterns of AtECA1 overlap most closely with those of the clathrin light chain. In vitro protein interaction assays revealed that AtECA1 binds to the clathrin H chain via its carboxyl-terminal domain. These results suggest that these AP180 amino-terminal homology/epsin amino-terminal homology domain-containing proteins, AtECA1, AtECA2, and AtECA4, may function as adaptors of clathrin-coated vesicles budding from the cell plate.     

Fish eggs and pentacrinoids in Weddell Sea hexactinellids: further examples for the structuring role of sponges in Antarctic benthic ecosystems

 During the CS-EASIZ expedition (ANT XII/3) to the eastern Weddell Sea shelf with RF ‘Polarstern’ in January–March 1996, several hundred hexactinellids from trawl catches were inspected for associated fauna. At one station, fish egg masses were found in the suboscular cavities of 18 specimens of hexactinellid sponges belonging to four different species of the genus Rossella. Egg numbers in intact hexactinellids ranged from about 800 to more than 8000. At two stations, pentacrinoids, the sessile stage of comatulid crinoid development were found attached to the inner dermal membrane of hexactinellids. This is the first time pentacrinoids have been documented from the high Antarctic. The pentacrinoids mostly formed small groups, but single individuals were found as well. Neither fish eggs nor pentacrinoids were observed in or on other structures or animals; these findings stress the overall importance of sponges, especially hexactinellids, as substrates for developmental stages of other members of the ecosystem. Received: 25 May 1996/Accepted: 22 July 1996     

Rotational stability in stalked crinoids and the function of wing plates in Pterotocrinus depressus

Baumiller, Tomasz K. & Plotnick, Roy E. 1989 07 15: Rotational stability in stalked crinoids and the function of win2–. plates in Pterotocrinus depressus. Lethaia , Vol. 22, pp. 317–326. Oslo. ISSN 0024–1164.
An unusual feature of the Mississippian camerate crinoid Pterotocrinus depressus is its tegmen with five wing-like appendages (wing plates). It has been suggested that the wing plates served as anti-predatory devices, hydrodynamic baffles, or outriggers for stabilization and support on the substrate. We propose two alternative hypotheses. First, the wing plates may have served as splitter plates, which would have acted to reduce drag on the organism. Second. wing plates served as stabilizing fins or rudders, allowing the passive maintenance of an efficient feeding posture in moving water. Experimental analyses of the forces acting on model crinoids, with and without the wing plates, support the hypothesis of the rudder function. A model developed for maintenance of stability in moving water should be applicable to all suspension feeders. * Crinoids, paleobiomechanics, biological rudders .     

Genetic Architecture and Functional Characterization of Genes Underlying the Rapid Diversification of Male External Genitalia Between Drosophila simulans and Drosophila mauritiana

Male sexual characters are often among the first traits to diverge between closely related species and identifying the genetic basis of such changes can contribute to our understanding of their evolutionary history. However, little is known about the genetic architecture or the specific genes underlying the evolution of male genitalia. The morphology of the claspers, posterior lobes, and anal plates exhibit striking differences between Drosophila mauritiana and D. simulans. Using QTL and introgression-based high-resolution mapping, we identified several small regions on chromosome arms 3L and 3R that contribute to differences in these traits. However, we found that the loci underlying the evolution of clasper differences between these two species are independent from those that contribute to posterior lobe and anal plate divergence. Furthermore, while most of the loci affect each trait in the same direction and act additively, we also found evidence for epistasis between loci for clasper bristle number. In addition, we conducted an RNAi screen in D. melanogaster to investigate if positional and expression candidate genes located on chromosome 3L, are also involved in genital development. We found that six of these genes, including components of Wnt signaling and male-specific lethal 3 (msl3), regulate the development of genital traits consistent with the effects of the introgressed regions where they are located and that thus represent promising candidate genes for the evolution these traits.     

曲靖西冲鱼(Xichonolepis qujingensis)化石的新材料及对其某些形态特征的讨论

<正> 曲靖西冲鱼(Xichonolepis qujingensis P'an et Wang)是1978年潘江、王士涛二同志为胴甲鱼建立的一个属种。化石产在云南曲靖翠峰山徐家冲与西冲之间中泥盆统海口组的下部。建立这一属种的标本有躯甲上一件骨片的内、外印模(原作者认为系前中背片)和若干属于头甲和胸鳍甲某些散落骨片的内、外印模,材料不多,保存也不甚完好。本文系对曲靖西冲鱼形态特征的补充记述,标本是刘玉海、王俊卿和笔者等自1962年以来陆续在滇东中泥盆统采获的。最初,在武定赵家庄后山的泥灰岩层与刘氏滇鱼