Early Mesozoic burst of morphological disparity in the slow-evolving coelacanth fish lineage
Abstract Since the split of the coelacanth lineage from other osteichthyans 420 million years ago, the morphological disparity of this clade has remained remarkably stable. Only few outliers with peculiar body shape stood out over the evolutionary history, but they were phylogenetically and stratigr...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2023-07-01
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| Series: | Scientific Reports |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-37849-9 |
| _version_ | 1797778881811316736 |
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| author | Christophe Ferrante Lionel Cavin |
| author_facet | Christophe Ferrante Lionel Cavin |
| author_sort | Christophe Ferrante |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Since the split of the coelacanth lineage from other osteichthyans 420 million years ago, the morphological disparity of this clade has remained remarkably stable. Only few outliers with peculiar body shape stood out over the evolutionary history, but they were phylogenetically and stratigraphically independent of each other. Here, we report the discovery of a new clade of ancient latimeriid coelacanths representing a small flock of species present in the Western Tethys between 242 and 241 million years ago. Among the four species, two show highly derived anatomy. A new genus shows reversal to plesiomorphic conditions in its skull and caudal fin organisation. The new genus and its sister Foreyia have anatomical modules that moved from the general coelacanth Bauplau either in the same direction or in opposite direction that affect proportions of the body, opercle and fins. Comparisons with extant genetic models shows that changes of the regulatory network of the Hedgehog signal gene family may account for most of the altered anatomy. This unexpected, short and confined new clade represents the only known example of a burst of morphological disparity over the long history of coelacanths at a recovery period after the Permian–Triassic Mass Extinction. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T23:23:54Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1043becc125246d3a70f8f10b0725772 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T23:23:54Z |
| publishDate | 2023-07-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj.art-1043becc125246d3a70f8f10b07257722023-07-16T11:14:33ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222023-07-0113111010.1038/s41598-023-37849-9Early Mesozoic burst of morphological disparity in the slow-evolving coelacanth fish lineageChristophe Ferrante0Lionel Cavin1Department of Geology and Palaeontology, Natural History Museum of GenevaDepartment of Geology and Palaeontology, Natural History Museum of GenevaAbstract Since the split of the coelacanth lineage from other osteichthyans 420 million years ago, the morphological disparity of this clade has remained remarkably stable. Only few outliers with peculiar body shape stood out over the evolutionary history, but they were phylogenetically and stratigraphically independent of each other. Here, we report the discovery of a new clade of ancient latimeriid coelacanths representing a small flock of species present in the Western Tethys between 242 and 241 million years ago. Among the four species, two show highly derived anatomy. A new genus shows reversal to plesiomorphic conditions in its skull and caudal fin organisation. The new genus and its sister Foreyia have anatomical modules that moved from the general coelacanth Bauplau either in the same direction or in opposite direction that affect proportions of the body, opercle and fins. Comparisons with extant genetic models shows that changes of the regulatory network of the Hedgehog signal gene family may account for most of the altered anatomy. This unexpected, short and confined new clade represents the only known example of a burst of morphological disparity over the long history of coelacanths at a recovery period after the Permian–Triassic Mass Extinction.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-37849-9 |
| spellingShingle | Christophe Ferrante Lionel Cavin Early Mesozoic burst of morphological disparity in the slow-evolving coelacanth fish lineage Scientific Reports |
| title | Early Mesozoic burst of morphological disparity in the slow-evolving coelacanth fish lineage |
| title_full | Early Mesozoic burst of morphological disparity in the slow-evolving coelacanth fish lineage |
| title_fullStr | Early Mesozoic burst of morphological disparity in the slow-evolving coelacanth fish lineage |
| title_full_unstemmed | Early Mesozoic burst of morphological disparity in the slow-evolving coelacanth fish lineage |
| title_short | Early Mesozoic burst of morphological disparity in the slow-evolving coelacanth fish lineage |
| title_sort | early mesozoic burst of morphological disparity in the slow evolving coelacanth fish lineage |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-37849-9 |
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