ISSN:
0362-2525
Keywords:
Life and Medical Sciences
;
Cell & Developmental Biology
Source:
Wiley InterScience Backfile Collection 1832-2000
Topics:
Biology
,
Medicine
Notes:
The oldest parts of the fibrous, cartilaginous, and bony head skeleton of vertebrates descend from the amphioxid ancestors of the myxinoid fishes. The skeleton of the velum and jaw bars of the amphioxids transform into the jaw apparatus and hyoid-velar head skeleton of the myxinoids, and some parts are passed on by inheritance to the teleostome fishes (sturgeons). These anatomical characters prove descent with modification. The theory of the origin of jaws and hyoid from branchial cartilages is not supported by the facts, as both jaws and hyoid structures were developed long before branchial cartilages furnished material for head building. The Velata, the oldest of living vertebrates, include the amphioxids and marsipobranchs, and are marked off from the higher forms by the important organ, the velum, which separates the prebranchial from the branchial head. A remnant of the velum inherited by all of the higher vertebrates is the hyoid mechanism - an important anatomical landmark.
Additional Material:
22 Ill.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jmor.1050520202
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