Skeleton formation in the Branchiosauridae: a case study in comparing ontogenetic trajectories

Autor:	Rainer R. Schoch
Rok vydání:	2004
Předmět:	External gills biology Skull roof Apateon Ontogeny Paleontology Anatomy biology.organism_classification Skeleton (computer programming) Melanerpeton Skull medicine.anatomical_structure Branchiosauridae Evolutionary biology medicine
Zdroj:	Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 24:309-319
ISSN:	1937-2809 0272-4634
Popis:	Branchiosaurids are small Permo-Carboniferous temnospondyls that retained an immature morphology and external gills throughout ontogeny. Their preservation of numerous size classes makes them outstanding examples for the study of ontogenetic patterns. Here, ontogenetic data of several branchiosaurids are analyzed in order to reconstruct and compare developmental trajectories. These trajectories are based on numerical changes, marked by the successive appearance of bones in the skeleton. The earliest phases in the formation of the skull are preserved only in two species, Apateon caducus and Melanerpeton humbergense. Despite being distant relatives within the clade, their ontogenetic trajectories are similar in the early formation of dentigerous elements in the jaws and palate, and a slower development of the median skull roof as compared with the smaller branchiosaurids Apateon pedestris, A. gracilis, and A. dracyi. Patterns shared by all five species are (1) the late formation and slow completion...
Databáze:	OpenAIRE
Externí odkaz:	https://explore.openaire.eu/search/publication?articleId=doi_________::7f270247502df35ab07dbf4a0a6c2134 https://doi.org/10.1671/1950 Zobrazit plný text záznamu