Paedomorphosis in edrioasteroid echinoderms
- 1 January 1978
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Cambridge University Press (CUP) in Paleobiology
- Vol. 4 (1) , 82-88
- https://doi.org/10.1017/s0094837300005716
Abstract
Three genera of the echinoderm class Edrioasteroidea comprise the suborder Cyathocystina; each is small, has five short straight ambulacra, few thecal plates, and commonly has a modified peripheral rim with tightly sutured or fused plates. The cyathocystids appear to have evolved by paedomorphosis; they have become sexually mature “adults” while retaining a morphology similar to juveniles of isorophid edrioasteroids. This mode of evolution may have been beneficial in colonizing shallow water, nearshore, current-swept environments.This publication has 1 reference indexed in Scilit:
- The Nature of Flow and the Reaction of Benthic Cnidaria to ItPublished by Springer Nature ,1976