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Fossil musculature of the most primitive jawed vertebrates.

Authors :
Trinajstic K
Sanchez S
Dupret V
Tafforeau P
Long J
Young G
Senden T
Boisvert C
Power N
Ahlberg PE
Source :
Science (New York, N.Y.) [Science] 2013 Jul 12; Vol. 341 (6142), pp. 160-4. Date of Electronic Publication: 2013 Jun 13.
Publication Year :
2013

Abstract

The transition from jawless to jawed vertebrates (gnathostomes) resulted in the reconfiguration of the muscles and skeleton of the head, including the creation of a separate shoulder girdle with distinct neck muscles. We describe here the only known examples of preserved musculature from placoderms (extinct armored fishes), the phylogenetically most basal jawed vertebrates. Placoderms possess a regionalized muscular anatomy that differs radically from the musculature of extant sharks, which is often viewed as primitive for gnathostomes. The placoderm data suggest that neck musculature evolved together with a dermal joint between skull and shoulder girdle, not as part of a broadly flexible neck as in sharks, and that transverse abdominal muscles are an innovation of gnathostomes rather than of tetrapods.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
1095-9203
Volume :
341
Issue :
6142
Database :
MEDLINE
Journal :
Science (New York, N.Y.)
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
23765280
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1237275