Fossil evidence for the ancient link between clonal fragmentation, six-fold symmetry and an epizoic lifestyle in asterozoan echinoderms.

Asexual reproduction by means of splitting, also called fissiparity, is a common feature in some asterozoan groups, especially in ophiactid brittle stars. Most fissiparous brittle stars show six instead of the usual five rays, live as epibionts on host organisms, and use clonal fragmentation to rapidly colonize secluded habitats and effectively expand the margins of their distribution area. While the biology and ecology of clonal fragmentation are comparatively well understood, virtually nothing is known about the evolution and geological history of that phenomenon. Here, we describe an exceptional fossil of an articulated six-armed brittle star from the Late Jurassic of Germany, showing one body half in the process of regeneration, and assign it to the new species Ophiactis hex sp. nov. Phylogenetic inference shows that the fossil represents the oldest member of the extant family Ophiactidae. Because the Ophiactis hex specimen shows an original six-fold symmetry combined with a morphology typically found in epizoic ophiuroids, in line with recent fissiparous ophiactid relatives, we assume that the regenerating body half is an indication for fissiparity. Ophiactis hex thus shows that fissiparity was established as a means of asexual reproduction in asterozoan echinoderms by the Late Jurassic.

Reinterpretation of tuberculate cervical vertebrae of Eocene birds as an exceptional anti-predator adaptation against the mammalian craniocervical killing bite.

We report avian cervical vertebrae from the Quercy fissure fillings in France, which are densely covered with villi-like tubercles. Two of these vertebrae stem from a late Eocene site, another lacks exact stratigraphic data. Similar cervical vertebrae occur in avian species from Eocene fossils sites in Germany and the United Kingdom, but the new fossils are the only three-dimensionally preserved vertebrae with pronounced surface sculpturing. So far, the evolutionary significance of this highly bizarre morphology, which is unknown from extant birds, remained elusive, and even a pathological origin was considered. We note the occurrence of similar structures on the skull of the extant African rodent Lophiomys and detail that the tubercles represent true osteological features and characterize a distinctive clade of Eocene birds (Perplexicervicidae). Micro-computed tomography (µCT) shows the tubercles to be associated with osteosclerosis of the cervical vertebrae, which have a very thick cortex and much fewer trabecles and pneumatic spaces than the cervicals of most extant birds aside from some specialized divers. This unusual morphology is likely to have served for strengthening the vertebral spine in the neck region, and we hypothesize that it represents an anti-predator adaptation against the craniocervical killing bite ("neck bite") that evolved in some groups of mammalian predators. Tuberculate vertebrae are only known from the Eocene of Central Europe, which featured a low predation pressure on birds during that geological epoch, as is evidenced by high numbers of flightless avian species. Strengthening of the cranialmost neck vertebrae would have mitigated attacks by smaller predators with weak bite forces, and we interpret these vertebral specializations as the first evidence of "internal bony armor" in birds.

Many roads to success: alternative routes to building an economic shell in land snails.

Land snails exhibit an extraordinary variety of shell shapes. The way shells are constructed underlies biological and mechanical constraints that vary across gastropod clades. Here, we quantify shell geometry of the two largest groups, Stylommatophora and Cyclophoroidea, to assess the potential causes for variation in shell shape and its relative frequency. Based on micro-computed tomography scans, we estimate material efficiency through 2D and 3D generalizations of the isoperimetric ratio, quantifying the ratios between area and perimeter of whorl cross-sections (2D) and shell volume and surface (3D), respectively. We find that stylommatophorans optimize material usage through whorl overlap, which may have promoted the diversification of flat-shelled species. Cyclophoroids are bound to a circular cross-section because of their operculum; flat shells are comparatively rare. Both groups show similar solutions for tall shells, where local geometry has a smaller effect because of the double overlap between previous and current whorls. Our results suggest that material efficiency is a driving factor in the selection of shell geometry. Essentially, the evolutionary success of Stylommatophora likely roots in their higher flexibility to produce an economic shell.

A Cybertaxonomic Revision of the "Crocidura pergrisea" Species Complex with a Special Focus on Endemic Rocky Shrews: Crocidura armenica and Crocidura arispa (Soricidae).

The extraction of museum DNA from a unique collection of samples of the "Crocidura pergrisea" species complex, which comprises local endemics of Central and West Asia, allowed us to determine their inter- and intragroup relationships. The first step of this study was the re-evaluation of heavily damaged type specimens of C. armenica via a microcomputed-tomography-based cybertaxonomic approach (CTtax), which enabled a precise description of the species' morphology; three-dimensional models of the cybertypes were made available through the MorphoBank Repository. We developed the "AProMaDesU" pipeline on the basis of five requirements for micro-CT-based cyber-datasets in relation to mammalian collections. Our second step was a combination of several meticulous approaches to morphological investigation against a background of a cytb-based phylogeny, which helped us to make a taxonomic decision about the status of species of the "pergrisea" group, e.g., C. arispa, C. armenica, and C. serezkyensis, when the morphological results were partly incongruent with the molecular phylogeny. Nevertheless, under two assumptions, our findings preserved a separate species-level status of C. serezkyensis and C. arispa. In addition, we restored the species-level status of C. armenica. This taxonomic decision is based on our morphospace analysis, which revealed unique craniomandibular shape transformations within the rocky shrews that helped them with the transition to a new area of morphospace/trophic niches and consequently separated them from the other analyzed Crocidura groups.

Detailed characterizations of cranial nerve anatomy in E14.5 mouse embryos/fetuses and their use as reference for diagnosing subtle, but potentially lethal malformations in mutants.

Careful phenotype analysis of genetically altered mouse embryos/fetuses is vital for deciphering the function of pre- and perinatally lethal genes. Usually this involves comparing the anatomy of mutants with that of wild types of identical developmental stages. Detailed three dimensional information on regular cranial nerve (CN) anatomy of prenatal mice is very scarce. We therefore set out to provide such information to be used as reference data and selected mutants to demonstrate its potential for diagnosing CN abnormalities. Digital volume data of 152 wild type mice, harvested on embryonic day (E)14.5 and of 18 mutants of the Col4a2, Arid1b, Rpgrip1l and Cc2d2a null lines were examined. The volume data had been created with High Resolution Episcopic Microscopy (HREM) as part of the deciphering the mechanisms of developmental disorders (DMDD) program. Employing volume and surface models, oblique slicing and digital measuring tools, we provide highly detailed anatomic descriptions of the CNs and measurements of the diameter of selected segments. Specifics of the developmental stages of E14.5 mice and anatomic norm variations were acknowledged. Using the provided data as reference enabled us to objectively diagnose CN abnormalities, such as abnormal formation of CN3 (Col4a2), neuroma of the motor portion of CN5 (Arid1b), thinning of CN7 (Rpgrip1l) and abnormal topology of CN12 (Cc2d2a). Although, in a first glimpse perceived as unspectacular, defects of the motor CN5 or CN7, like enlargement or thinning can cause death of newborns, by hindering feeding. Furthermore, abnormal topology of CN12 was recently identified as a highly reliable marker for low penetrating, but potentially lethal defects of the central nervous system.