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Craniiformea
Craniata is a class of brachiopods originating in the Cambrian period and still extant today. It is the only class within the subphylum Craniiformea, one of three major subphyla of brachiopods alongside linguliforms and rhynchonelliforms. Craniata is divided into three orders: the extinct Craniopsida and Trimerellida, and the living Craniida, which provides most information on their biology. Living members of the class have shells which are composed of calcite, though some extinct forms my have aragonite shells. The shells are inarticulate (lack a hinge with distinct tooth-and-socket connections) and are usually rounded in outline. There is no pedicle; the rear edge of the body cavity is a smooth and flat wall perforated by the anus. This class of brachiopods has an unsupported lophophore The lophophore () is a characteristic feeding organ possessed by four major groups of animals: the Brachiopoda, Bryozoa, Hyolitha, and Phoronida, which collectively constitute the p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pedicle (brachiopod)
Brachiopods (), phylum (biology), phylum Brachiopoda, are a phylum of animals that have hard "valves" (shells) on the upper and lower surfaces, unlike the left and right arrangement in bivalve molluscs. Brachiopod valves are hinged at the rear end, while the front can be opened for feeding or closed for protection. Two major categories are traditionally recognized, articulate and inarticulate brachiopods. The word "articulate" is used to describe the tooth-and-groove structures of the valve-hinge which is present in the articulate group, and absent from the inarticulate group. This is the leading diagnostic skeletal feature, by which the two main groups can be readily distinguished as fossils. Articulate brachiopods have toothed hinges and simple, vertically oriented opening and closing muscles. Conversely, inarticulate brachiopods have weak, untoothed hinges and a more complex system of vertical and oblique (diagonal) muscles used to keep the two valves aligned. In many brachio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Craniida
The Craniidae are a family of brachiopods, the only surviving members of the subphylum Craniiformea. They are the only members of the order Craniida, the monotypic suborder Craniidina, and the superfamily Cranioidea; consequently, the latter two taxa are at present redundant and rarely used. There are three living genera within Craniidae: '' Neoancistrocrania'', '' Novocrania'', and '' Valdiviathyris''. As adults, craniids either live freely on the ocean floor or, more commonly, cement themselves onto a hard object with all or part of the ventral valve. Like the burrowing lingulids, Craniids are inarticulate brachiopods. There are no outgrowths forming a hinge between both valves, nor is there any support for the lophophore. Unlike lingulids, which have shells consisting of apatite and organic material, craniids have shells composed mainly of calcium carbonate. No craniids are known to bear a pedicle at any development stage. Evolution Extinct craniids Most craniid ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Craniopsida
Craniopsidae is an extinct family of craniiform brachiopods which lived from the mid-Cambrian to the Lower Carboniferous (Tournaisian). It is the only family in the monotypic superfamily Craniopsoidea and the monotypic order Craniopsida. If one includes the ambiguous Cambrian genus '' Discinopsis'', craniopsids were the first craniiforms to appear, and may be ancestral to craniids and trimerellides.'''' An even earlier Cambrian genus, '' Heliomedusa'', has sometimes been identified as a craniopsid. More recently, ''Heliomedusa'' has been considered a stem-group brachiopod related to '' Mickwitzia''. Craniopsids are among the simplest of brachiopods, with few identifiable features shared between genera. The calcitic shell is rounded in profile and biconvex, with both valves equally convex. Like other craniiforms, they had two pairs of adductor (vertical closing) muscles and two pairs of oblique (diagonal sliding) muscles, with the muscle scars shifted to just behind the center ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trimerellida
Trimerellida is an extinct order of craniate brachiopods, containing the sole superfamily Trimerelloidea and the families Adensuidae, Trimerellidae, and Ussuniidae. Trimerellidae was a widespread family of warm-water brachiopods ranging from the Middle Ordovician ("Llandeilo" / Darriwilian) to the late Silurian (Ludlow). Adensuidae and Ussuniidae are monogeneric families restricted to the Ordovician of Kazakhstan. Most individuals were free-living, though some (namely Australian populations of the genus '' Eodinobolus'') clustered into large congregations similar to modern oyster reefs. Evolution Trimerellides probably originated from tropical island arcs in the region of Kazakhstania (present-day Kazakhstan) during the "Llandeilo" (late Darriwilian stage). By the late Sandbian and early Katian stages, many dispersed eastward to nearby regions equivalent to South China and Australia. A few managed to populate the vicinity of Laurentia (North America), possibly through ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rhynchonelliformea
Rhynchonelliformea is a major subphylum and clade of brachiopods. It is roughly equivalent to the former class Articulata, which was used previously in brachiopod taxonomy up until the 1990s. These so-called articulated brachiopods have many anatomical differences relative to "inarticulate" brachiopods of the subphyla Linguliformea and Craniformea. Articulates have hard calcium carbonate shells with tongue-and-groove hinge articulations (hence the name) and separate sets of simple opening and closing muscles. The Rhynchonelliformea (as described in the Treatise Part H, revised 1997–2007) is divided into five classes: Obolellata, Kutorginata, Chileata, Strophomenata, and Rhynchonellata. The Rhynchonellata are found living today, as the major constituent of modern brachiopod faunas. The other classes are all extinct: the Obolellata and Kutorginata are restricted to the Cambrian, while the Chileata and Strophomenata range through most of the Paleozoic. Anatomy Like all bra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clade
In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach to taxonomy adopted by most biological fields. The common ancestor may be an individual, a population, or a species (extinct or Extant taxon, extant). Clades are nested, one in another, as each branch in turn splits into smaller branches. These splits reflect evolutionary history as populations diverged and evolved independently. Clades are termed ''monophyletic'' (Greek: "one clan") groups. Over the last few decades, the cladistic approach has revolutionized biological classification and revealed surprising evolutionary relationships among organisms. Increasingly, taxonomists try to avoid naming Taxon, taxa that are not clades; that is, taxa that are not Monophyly, monophyletic. Some of the relationships between organisms that the molecul ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Calcite
Calcite is a Carbonate minerals, carbonate mineral and the most stable Polymorphism (materials science), polymorph of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). It is a very common mineral, particularly as a component of limestone. Calcite defines hardness 3 on the Mohs scale of mineral hardness, based on Scratch hardness, scratch hardness comparison. Large calcite crystals are used in optical equipment, and limestone composed mostly of calcite has numerous uses. Other polymorphs of calcium carbonate are the minerals aragonite and vaterite. Aragonite will change to calcite over timescales of days or less at temperatures exceeding 300 °C, and vaterite is even less stable. Etymology Calcite is derived from the German , a term from the 19th century that came from the Latin word for Lime (material), lime, (genitive ) with the suffix ''-ite'' used to name minerals. It is thus a Doublet (linguistics), doublet of the word ''wikt:chalk, chalk''. When applied by archaeology, archaeologists and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adductor Muscles (bivalve)
The adductor muscles are the main muscular system in bivalve mollusks (e.g. in clams, scallops, mussels, oysters, etc.). In many parts of the world, when people eat scallops, the adductor muscles are the only part of the animal which is eaten. Adductor muscles leave noticeable scars or marks on the interior of the shell's valves. Those marks (known as adductor muscle scars) are often used by scientists who are in the process of identifying empty shells to determine their correct taxonomic placement. Bivalve mollusks generally have either one or two adductor muscles. The muscles are strong enough to close the valves of the shell when they contract, and they are what enable the animal to close its valves tightly when necessary, such as when the bivalve is exposed to the air by low water levels, or when it is attacked by a predator. Most bivalve species have two adductor muscles, which are located on the anterior and posterior sides of the body. Some families of bivalves h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lophophore
The lophophore () is a characteristic feeding organ possessed by four major groups of animals: the Brachiopoda, Bryozoa, Hyolitha, and Phoronida, which collectively constitute the protostome group Lophophorata.Introduction to the Lophotrochozoa – Retrieved 3 May 2010 All lophophores are found in aquatic organisms. Etymology ''Lophophore'' is derived from the Greek ''lophos'' (crest, tuft) and ''-phore'', ''-phoros'' (φορος) (bearing), a derivative of ''phérein'' (φέρειν) (to bear); thus crest-bearing.Characteristics The lophophore can most easily be described as a ring of ted tentacles surrounding the mouth, but it is often horseshoe-shap ...[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anus
In mammals, invertebrates and most fish, the anus (: anuses or ani; from Latin, 'ring' or 'circle') is the external body orifice at the ''exit'' end of the digestive tract (bowel), i.e. the opposite end from the mouth. Its function is to facilitate the defecation, expulsion of wastes that remain after digestion. Bowel contents that pass through the anus include the gaseous flatus and the semi-solid feces, which (depending on the type of animal) include: indigestible matter such as bones, hair pellet (ornithology), pellets, endozoochory, endozoochorous seeds and gastrolith, digestive rocks; Summary at residual food material after the digestible nutrients have been extracted, for example cellulose or lignin; ingested matter which would be toxic if it remained in the digestive tract; excretion, excreted metabolites like bilirubin-containing bile; and dead mucosal epithelia or excess gut bacteria and other endosymbionts. Passage of feces through the anus is typically controlled by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
