AI Article Synopsis
- The study identifies a specific speciation event in the lineage of brittle stars (Ophiuroidea) rather than relying on speculative ancestral relationships, providing clearer insight into their evolution.
- Fossils of two new species from the Silurian period (Ophiopetagno paicei and Muldaster haakei) demonstrate a significant size reduction linked to environmental changes during the Mulde Event, a global extinction event.
- This miniaturization led to a simplification of their skeletal structure by retaining juvenile characteristics into adulthood, shaping the modern form of brittle stars.
Article Abstract
Pivotal anatomical innovations often seem to appear by chance when viewed through the lens of the fossil record. As a consequence, specific driving forces behind the origination of major organismal clades generally remain speculative. Here, we present a rare exception to this axiom by constraining the appearance of a diverse animal group (the living Ophiuroidea) to a single speciation event rather than hypothetical ancestors. Fossils belonging to a new pair of temporally consecutive species of brittle stars (Ophiopetagno paicei gen. et sp. nov. and Muldaster haakei gen. et sp. nov.) from the Silurian (444-419 Mya) of Sweden reveal a process of miniaturization that temporally coincides with a global extinction and environmental perturbation known as the Mulde Event. The reduction in size from O. paicei to M. haakei forced a structural simplification of the ophiuroid skeleton through ontogenetic retention of juvenile traits, thereby generating the modern brittle star bauplan.
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Source |
|---|---|
| http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8748437 | PMC |
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s42003-021-02971-9 | DOI Listing |
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