» Articles » PMID: 23446532

Embryos, Polyps and Medusae of the Early Cambrian Scyphozoan Olivooides

Overview
Journal Proc Biol Sci
Specialty Biology
Date 2013 Mar 1
PMID 23446532
Citations 17
Authors
Affiliations
Soon will be listed here.
Abstract

The Early Cambrian organism Olivooides is known from both embryonic and post-embryonic stages and, consequently, it has the potential to yield vital insights into developmental evolution at the time that animal body plans were established. However, this potential can only be realized if the phylogenetic relationships of Olivooides can be constrained. The affinities of Olivooides have proved controversial because of the lack of knowledge of the internal anatomy and the limited range of developmental stages known. Here, we describe rare embryonic specimens in which internal anatomical features are preserved. We also present a fuller sequence of fossilized developmental stages of Olivooides, including associated specimens that we interpret as budding ephyrae (juvenile medusae), all of which display a clear pentaradial symmetry. Within the framework of a cnidarian interpretation, the new data serve to pinpoint the phylogenetic position of Olivooides to the scyphozoan stem group. Hypotheses about scalidophoran or echinoderm affinities of Olivooides can be rejected.

Citing Articles

Dynamic simulations of feeding and respiration of the early Cambrian periderm-bearing cnidarian polyps.

Zhang Y, Wang X, Han J, Xiao J, Yong Y, Yu C Elife. 2025; 12.

PMID: 40009542 PMC: 11867613. DOI: 10.7554/eLife.90211.


Ediacaran origin and Ediacaran-Cambrian diversification of Metazoa.

Carlisle E, Yin Z, Pisani D, Donoghue P Sci Adv. 2024; 10(46):eadp7161.

PMID: 39536100 PMC: 11559618. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adp7161.


A macroscopic free-swimming medusa from the middle Cambrian Burgess Shale.

Moon J, Caron J, Moysiuk J Proc Biol Sci. 2023; 290(2004):20222490.

PMID: 37528711 PMC: 10394413. DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2022.2490.


Coevolution of the Tlx homeobox gene with medusa development (Cnidaria: Medusozoa).

Travert M, Boohar R, Sanders S, Boosten M, Leclere L, Steele R Commun Biol. 2023; 6(1):709.

PMID: 37433830 PMC: 10336111. DOI: 10.1038/s42003-023-05077-6.


Recognition of Rare Microfossils Using Transfer Learning and Deep Residual Networks.

Wang B, Sun R, Yang X, Niu B, Zhang T, Zhao Y Biology (Basel). 2023; 12(1).

PMID: 36671708 PMC: 9854841. DOI: 10.3390/biology12010016.


References
1.
Martin V, Littlefield C, Archer W, Bode H . Embryogenesis in hydra. Biol Bull. 1997; 192(3):345-63. DOI: 10.2307/1542745. View

2.
Smith A . Deuterostomes in a twist: the origins of a radical new body plan. Evol Dev. 2008; 10(4):493-503. DOI: 10.1111/j.1525-142X.2008.00260.x. View

3.
Dong X, Donoghue P, Cheng H, Liu J . Fossil embryos from the Middle and Late Cambrian period of Hunan, south China. Nature. 2004; 427(6971):237-40. DOI: 10.1038/nature02215. View

4.
Donoghue P, Bengtson S, Dong X, Gostling N, Huldtgren T, Cunningham J . Synchrotron X-ray tomographic microscopy of fossil embryos. Nature. 2006; 442(7103):680-3. DOI: 10.1038/nature04890. View

5.
Morris S . Eggs and embryos from the Cambrian. Bioessays. 1998; 20(8):676-82. DOI: 10.1002/(SICI)1521-1878(199808)20:8<676::AID-BIES11>3.0.CO;2-W. View