A 5000-year fossil record of larval shell morphology of submarine cave microshells.
A 5000-year fossil series of minute submarine cave bivalves was studied using morphometric and evolutionary analyses. The obtained results indicate that the shapes of larval shells of studied species were labile, whereas the size of the larval shell was stable in each species studied. This result is different than that previously reported in most other studies in which size change is more common than shape change. This unique evolutionary pattern of these bivalves might be attributed to their refugial lifestyle.
Ubukata
Takao
T
Institute of Geosciences, Shizuoka University, Suruga-ku, Shizuoka, Japan. sbtubuk@ipc.shizuoka.ac.jp
Kitamura
Akihisa
A
Hiramoto
Mayumi
M
Kase
Tomoki
T
D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D049872:Bivalvia / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D005580:Fossils; D007564:Japan; D012623:Seawater