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Nanglu K, Waskom ME, Richards JC, Ortega-Hernández J. Rhabdopleurid epibionts from the Ordovician Fezouata Shale biota and the longevity of cross-phylum interactions. Commun Biol 2023; 6:1002. [PMID: 37821659 PMCID: PMC10567727 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-023-05377-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2023] [Accepted: 09/18/2023] [Indexed: 10/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Evidence of interspecific interactions in the fossil record is rare but offers valuable insights into ancient ecologies. Exceptional fossiliferous sites can preserve complex ecological interactions involving non-biomineralized organisms, but most of these examples are restricted to Cambrian Lagerstätten. Here we report an exceptionally preserved cross-phylum interspecific interaction from the Tremadocian-aged Lower Fezouata Shale Formation of Morocco, which consists of the phragmocone of an orthocone cephalopod that has been extensively populated post-mortem by tubicolous epibionts. Well-preserved transverse bands in a zig-zag pattern and crenulations along the margin of the unbranched tubes indicate that they correspond to pterobranch hemichordates, with a close morphological similarity to rhabdopleurids based on the bush-like growth of the dense tubarium. The discovery of rhabdopleurid epibionts in the Fezouata Shale highlights the paucity of benthic graptolites, which also includes the rooted dendroids Didymograptus and Dictyonema, relative to the substantially more diverse and abundant planktic forms known from this biota. We propose that the rarity of Paleozoic rhabdopleurid epibionts is likely a consequence of their ecological requirement for hard substrates for initial settlement and growth. The Fezouata rhabdopleurid also reveals a 480-million-year-old association of pterobranchs as epibionts of molluscs that persist to the present day.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karma Nanglu
- Museum of Comparative Zoology and Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA.
| | - Madeleine E Waskom
- Museum of Comparative Zoology and Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
| | - Jared C Richards
- Museum of Comparative Zoology and Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
| | - Javier Ortega-Hernández
- Museum of Comparative Zoology and Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA.
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2
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Wilkie IC, Candia Carnevali MD. Morphological and Physiological Aspects of Mutable Collagenous Tissue at the Autotomy Plane of the Starfish Asterias rubens L. (Echinodermata, Asteroidea): An Echinoderm Paradigm. Mar Drugs 2023; 21:md21030138. [PMID: 36976186 PMCID: PMC10058165 DOI: 10.3390/md21030138] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2023] [Revised: 02/19/2023] [Accepted: 02/20/2023] [Indexed: 02/24/2023] Open
Abstract
The mutable collagenous tissue (MCT) of echinoderms has the capacity to undergo changes in its tensile properties within a timescale of seconds under the control of the nervous system. All echinoderm autotomy (defensive self-detachment) mechanisms depend on the extreme destabilisation of mutable collagenous structures at the plane of separation. This review illustrates the role of MCT in autotomy by bringing together previously published and new information on the basal arm autotomy plane of the starfish Asterias rubens L. It focuses on the MCT components of breakage zones in the dorsolateral and ambulacral regions of the body wall, and details data on their structural organisation and physiology. Information is also provided on the extrinsic stomach retractor apparatus whose involvement in autotomy has not been previously recognised. We show that the arm autotomy plane of A. rubens is a tractable model system for addressing outstanding problems in MCT biology. It is amenable to in vitro pharmacological investigations using isolated preparations and provides an opportunity for the application of comparative proteomic analysis and other “-omics” methods which are aimed at the molecular profiling of different mechanical states and characterising effector cell functions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Iain C. Wilkie
- School of Biodiversity, One Health and Veterinary Medicine, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK
- Correspondence: (I.C.W.); (M.D.C.C.)
| | - M. Daniela Candia Carnevali
- Department of Environmental Science and Policy, University of Milan, 20133 Milan, Italy
- Correspondence: (I.C.W.); (M.D.C.C.)
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3
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Nanglu K, Cole SR, Wright DF, Souto C. Worms and gills, plates and spines: the evolutionary origins and incredible disparity of deuterostomes revealed by fossils, genes, and development. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2023; 98:316-351. [PMID: 36257784 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12908] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/28/2022] [Revised: 09/23/2022] [Accepted: 09/28/2022] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
Deuterostomes are the major division of animal life which includes sea stars, acorn worms, and humans, among a wide variety of ecologically and morphologically disparate taxa. However, their early evolution is poorly understood, due in part to their disparity, which makes identifying commonalities difficult, as well as their relatively poor early fossil record. Here, we review the available morphological, palaeontological, developmental, and molecular data to establish a framework for exploring the origins of this important and enigmatic group. Recent fossil discoveries strongly support a vermiform ancestor to the group Hemichordata, and a fusiform active swimmer as ancestor to Chordata. The diverse and anatomically bewildering variety of forms among the early echinoderms show evidence of both bilateral and radial symmetry. We consider four characteristics most critical for understanding the form and function of the last common ancestor to Deuterostomia: Hox gene expression patterns, larval morphology, the capacity for biomineralization, and the morphology of the pharyngeal region. We posit a deuterostome last common ancestor with a similar antero-posterior gene regulatory system to that found in modern acorn worms and cephalochordates, a simple planktonic larval form, which was later elaborated in the ambulacrarian lineage, the ability to secrete calcium minerals in a limited fashion, and a pharyngeal respiratory region composed of simple pores. This animal was likely to be motile in adult form, as opposed to the sessile origins that have been historically suggested. Recent debates regarding deuterostome monophyly as well as the wide array of deuterostome-affiliated problematica further suggest the possibility that those features were not only present in the last common ancestor of Deuterostomia, but potentially in the ur-bilaterian. The morphology and development of the early deuterostomes, therefore, underpin some of the most significant questions in the study of metazoan evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karma Nanglu
- Museum of Comparative Zoology and Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
| | - Selina R Cole
- Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, 10th & Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC, 20560, USA.,Sam Noble Museum, University of Oklahoma, 2401 Chautauqua Avenue, Norman, OK, 73072, USA.,School of Geosciences, University of Oklahoma, 100 E Boyd Street, Norman, OK, 73019, USA
| | - David F Wright
- Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, 10th & Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC, 20560, USA.,Sam Noble Museum, University of Oklahoma, 2401 Chautauqua Avenue, Norman, OK, 73072, USA.,School of Geosciences, University of Oklahoma, 100 E Boyd Street, Norman, OK, 73019, USA
| | - Camilla Souto
- Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, 10th & Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC, 20560, USA.,School of Natural Sciences & Mathematics, Stockton University, 101 Vera King Farris Dr, Galloway, NJ, 08205, USA
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4
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Saleh F, Vaucher R, Vidal M, Hariri KE, Laibl L, Daley AC, Gutiérrez-Marco JC, Candela Y, Harper DAT, Ortega-Hernández J, Ma X, Rida A, Vizcaïno D, Lefebvre B. New fossil assemblages from the Early Ordovician Fezouata Biota. Sci Rep 2022; 12:20773. [PMID: 36513689 PMCID: PMC9747710 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-25000-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2022] [Accepted: 11/23/2022] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
The Fezouata Biota (Morocco) is a unique Early Ordovician fossil assemblage. The discovery of this biota revolutionized our understanding of Earth's early animal diversifications-the Cambrian Explosion and the Ordovician Radiation-by suggesting an evolutionary continuum between both events. Herein, we describe Taichoute, a new fossil locality from the Fezouata Shale. This locality extends the temporal distribution of fossil preservation from this formation into the upper Floian, while also expanding the range of depositional environments to more distal parts of the shelf. In Taichoute, most animals were transported by density flows, unlike the in-situ preservation of animals recovered in previously investigated Fezouata sites. Taichoute is dominated by three-dimensionally preserved, and heavily sclerotized fragments of large euarthropods-possibly representing nektobenthic/nektic bivalved taxa and/or hurdiid radiodonts. Resolving whether this dominance reflects a legitimate aspect of the original ecosystem or a preservational bias requires an in-depth assessment of the environmental conditions at this site. Nevertheless, Taichoute provides novel preservational and palaeontological insights during a key evolutionary transition in the history of life on Earth.
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Affiliation(s)
- Farid Saleh
- grid.9851.50000 0001 2165 4204Institute of Earth Sciences (ISTE), University of Lausanne, Geopolis, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland ,grid.440773.30000 0000 9342 2456Yunnan Key Laboratory for Palaeobiology, Institute of Palaeontology, Yunnan University, Kunming, China ,grid.440773.30000 0000 9342 2456MEC International Joint Laboratory for Palaeobiology and Palaeoenvironment, Institute of Palaeontology, Yunnan University, Kunming, China
| | - Romain Vaucher
- grid.9851.50000 0001 2165 4204Institute of Earth Sciences (ISTE), University of Lausanne, Geopolis, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Muriel Vidal
- Univ Brest, CNRS, Ifremer, Geo-Ocean, UMR 6538, Place Nicolas Copernic, F-29280 Plouzané, France
| | - Khadija El Hariri
- grid.411840.80000 0001 0664 9298Laboratoire de Géoressources, Géoenvironnement Et Génie Civil ‘L3G’, Faculté Des Sciences Et Techniques, Université Cadi-Ayyad, BP 549, 40000 Marrakesh, Morocco
| | - Lukáš Laibl
- grid.447909.70000 0001 2220 6788Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Geology, Rozvojová 269, 165 00 Prague 6, Czech Republic
| | - Allison C. Daley
- grid.9851.50000 0001 2165 4204Institute of Earth Sciences (ISTE), University of Lausanne, Geopolis, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Juan Carlos Gutiérrez-Marco
- grid.4711.30000 0001 2183 4846Instituto de Geociencias (CSIC, UCM), Departamento GEODESPAL, Facultad de Ciencias Geológicas, Spanish Research Council, José Antonio Novais 12, 28040 Madrid, Spain
| | - Yves Candela
- grid.422302.50000 0001 0943 6159Department of Natural Sciences, National Museums Scotland, Edinburgh, EH1 1JF UK
| | - David A. T. Harper
- grid.8250.f0000 0000 8700 0572Palaeoecosystems Group, Department of Earth Sciences, Durham University, Durham, DH1 3LE UK
| | - Javier Ortega-Hernández
- grid.38142.3c000000041936754XMuseum of Comparative Zoology and Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138 USA
| | - Xiaoya Ma
- grid.440773.30000 0000 9342 2456Yunnan Key Laboratory for Palaeobiology, Institute of Palaeontology, Yunnan University, Kunming, China ,grid.440773.30000 0000 9342 2456MEC International Joint Laboratory for Palaeobiology and Palaeoenvironment, Institute of Palaeontology, Yunnan University, Kunming, China ,grid.8391.30000 0004 1936 8024Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn, UK
| | - Ariba Rida
- grid.411840.80000 0001 0664 9298Université Cadi Ayyad, École Normale Supérieure, Marrakech, Morocco
| | - Daniel Vizcaïno
- Independent, 7 rue Chardin, Maquens, 11090 Carcassonne, France
| | - Bertrand Lefebvre
- grid.7849.20000 0001 2150 7757Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, École Normale Supérieure de Lyon, CNRS, UMR5276, LGL-TPE, Université de Lyon, Villeurbanne, France
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Mongiardino Koch N, Thompson JR, Hiley AS, McCowin MF, Armstrong AF, Coppard SE, Aguilera F, Bronstein O, Kroh A, Mooi R, Rouse GW. Phylogenomic analyses of echinoid diversification prompt a re-evaluation of their fossil record. eLife 2022; 11:72460. [PMID: 35315317 PMCID: PMC8940180 DOI: 10.7554/elife.72460] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2021] [Accepted: 03/03/2022] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Echinoids are key components of modern marine ecosystems. Despite a remarkable fossil record, the emergence of their crown group is documented by few specimens of unclear affinities, rendering their early history uncertain. The origin of sand dollars, one of its most distinctive clades, is also unclear due to an unstable phylogenetic context. We employ 18 novel genomes and transcriptomes to build a phylogenomic dataset with a near-complete sampling of major lineages. With it, we revise the phylogeny and divergence times of echinoids, and place their history within the broader context of echinoderm evolution. We also introduce the concept of a chronospace - a multidimensional representation of node ages - and use it to explore methodological decisions involved in time calibrating phylogenies. We find the choice of clock model to have the strongest impact on divergence times, while the use of site-heterogeneous models and alternative node prior distributions show minimal effects. The choice of loci has an intermediate impact, affecting mostly deep Paleozoic nodes, for which clock-like genes recover dates more congruent with fossil evidence. Our results reveal that crown group echinoids originated in the Permian and diversified rapidly in the Triassic, despite the relative lack of fossil evidence for this early diversification. We also clarify the relationships between sand dollars and their close relatives and confidently date their origins to the Cretaceous, implying ghost ranges spanning approximately 50 million years, a remarkable discrepancy with their rich fossil record.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicolás Mongiardino Koch
- Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences, Yale University, New Haven, United States.,Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, United States
| | - Jeffrey R Thompson
- Department of Earth Sciences, Natural History Museum, London, United Kingdom.,University College London Center for Life's Origins and Evolution, London, United Kingdom
| | - Avery S Hiley
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, United States
| | - Marina F McCowin
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, United States
| | - A Frances Armstrong
- Department of Invertebrate Zoology and Geology, California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, United States
| | - Simon E Coppard
- Bader International Study Centre, Queen's University, Herstmonceux Castle, East Sussex, United Kingdom
| | - Felipe Aguilera
- Departamento de Bioquímica y Biología Molecular, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad de Concepción, Concepción, Chile
| | - Omri Bronstein
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.,Steinhardt Museum of Natural History, Tel-Aviv, Israel
| | - Andreas Kroh
- Department of Geology and Palaeontology, Natural History Museum Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Rich Mooi
- Department of Invertebrate Zoology and Geology, California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, United States
| | - Greg W Rouse
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, United States
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6
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Zamora S, Rahman IA, Sumrall CD, Gibson AP, Thompson JR. Cambrian edrioasteroid reveals new mechanism for secondary reduction of the skeleton in echinoderms. Proc Biol Sci 2022; 289:20212733. [PMID: 35232240 PMCID: PMC8889179 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2021.2733] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Echinoderms are characterized by a distinctive high-magnesium calcite endoskeleton as adults, but elements of this have been drastically reduced in some groups. Herein, we describe a new pentaradial echinoderm, Yorkicystis haefneri n. gen. n. sp., which provides, to our knowledge, the oldest evidence of secondary non-mineralization of the echinoderm skeleton. This material was collected from the Cambrian Kinzers Formation in York (Pennsylvania, USA) and is dated as ca 510 Ma. Detailed morphological observations demonstrate that the ambulacra (i.e. axial region) are composed of flooring and cover plates, but the rest of the body (i.e. extraxial region) is preserved as a dark film and lacks any evidence of skeletal plating. Moreover, X-ray fluorescence analysis reveals that the axial region is elevated in iron. Based on our morphological and chemical data and on taphonomic comparisons with other fossils from the Kinzers Formation, we infer that the axial region was originally calcified, while the extraxial region was non-mineralized. Phylogenetic analyses recover Yorkicystis as an edrioasteroid, indicating that this partial absence of skeleton resulted from a secondary reduction. We hypothesize that skeletal reduction resulted from lack of expression of the skeletogenic gene regulatory network in the extraxial body wall during development. Secondary reduction of the skeleton in Yorkicystis might have allowed for greater flexibility of the body wall.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samuel Zamora
- Instituto Geológico y Minero de España (IGME-CSIC), C/Manuel Lasala, 44, 9°B, 50006 Zaragoza, Spain.,Grupo Aragosaurus-IUCA, Área de Paleontología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain
| | - Imran A Rahman
- Department of Earth Sciences, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK.,Oxford University Museum of Natural History, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PW, UK
| | - Colin D Sumrall
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996-1526, USA
| | - Adam P Gibson
- Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering and Institute for Sustainable Heritage, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Jeffrey R Thompson
- Department of Earth Sciences, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK.,UCL Centre for Life's Origins and Evolution, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK
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