Tetrapod-like middle ear architecture in a Devonian fish

被引:61
作者
Brazeau, MD [1 ]
Ahlberg, PE [1 ]
机构
[1] Uppsala Univ, Evolutionary Biol Ctr, Dept Physiol & Dev Biol, Subdept Evolutionary Organismal Biol, SE-75236 Uppsala, Sweden
关键词
D O I
10.1038/nature04196
中图分类号
O [数理科学和化学]; P [天文学、地球科学]; Q [生物科学]; N [自然科学总论];
学科分类号
07 ; 0710 ; 09 ;
摘要
Few fossils show the incipient stages of complex morphological transformations(1). For example, the earliest stages in the remodelling of the spiracular tract and suspensorium (jaw suspension) of osteolepiform fishes(2-4) into the middle ear of tetrapods have remained elusive(3). The most primitive known tetrapods show a middle ear architecture that is very different from osteolepiforms such as Eusthenopteron(3), with little indication of how this transformation took place. Here we present an analysis of tetrapod middle ear origins that is based on a detailed study of Panderichthys, the immediate sister taxon of tetrapods. We show that the spiracular region is radically transformed from osteolepiforms and represents the earliest stages in the origin of the tetrapod middle ear architecture. The posterior palatoquadrate of Panderichthys is completely tetrapod-like and defines a similarly tetrapod-like spiracular tract. The hyomandibula has lost its distal portion, representing a previously unrecognized advance towards a stapes-like morphology. This spiracular specialization suggests that the middle ear of early tetrapods evolved initially as part of a spiracular breathing apparatus(5,6).
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页码:318 / 321
页数:4
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