The cranial endocast of the Upper Devonian dipnoan Chirodipterus australis
| Autor: | Thomas J. Challands, Struan Henderson |
|---|---|
| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2018 |
| Předmět: |
0301 basic medicine
Sarcopterygii lcsh:Medicine Devonian General Biochemistry Genetics and Molecular Biology 03 medical and health sciences Paleontology Inner ear Cranial cavity medicine Gogo Formation Dipnoi Chirodipterus Lungfish Endocast biology General Neuroscience Chirodipterus australis lcsh:R General Medicine biology.organism_classification 030104 developmental biology medicine.anatomical_structure Taxon General Agricultural and Biological Sciences Geology |
| Zdroj: | PeerJ, Vol 6, p e5148 (2018) |
| DOI: | 10.7287/peerj.preprints.26591 |
| Popis: | One of the first endocasts of a dipnoan (lungfish) to be realised was that of the Upper Devonian taxon Chirodipterus australis. This early interpretation was based on observations of the shape of the cranial cavity alone and was not based on a natural cast or ‘steinkern’ nor from serial sectioning. The validity of this reconstruction is therefore questionable and continued reference to and use of this interpretation in analyses of sarcopterygian cranial evolution runs the risk of propagation of error. Here we present a new detailed anatomical description of the endocast of ‘Chirodipterus’ australis from the Upper Devonian Gogo Formation of Western Australia, known for exceptional 3D preservation which enables fine-scale scrutiny of endocranial anatomy. We show that it exhibits a suite of characters more typical of Lower and Middle Devonian dipnoan taxa. Notably, the small utricular recess is unexpected for a taxon of this age, whereas the ventral expansion of the telencephalon is more typical of more derived taxa. The presence of such ’primitive’ characters in ‘C.’ australis supports its relatively basal position as demonstrated in the most recent phylogenies of Devonian Dipnoi. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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