title: Virtual dissection and lifestyle of a 165 -million-year-old female polychelidan lobster.
abstract: Polychelidan lobsters are fascinating crustaceans that were known as fossils before being discovered in the deep-sea. They differ from other crustaceans by having four to five pairs of claws. Although recent palaeontological studies have clarified the systematics and phylogeny of the group, the biology of extant polychelidans and--first of all--their anatomy are poorly documented. Numerous aspects of the evolutionary history of the group remain obscure, in particular, how and when polychelidans colonized the deep-sea and became restricted to it. Surprisingly, the biology of extant polychelidans and the anatomy of all species, fossil and recent, are poorly documented. Here, X-ray microtomography (XTM), applied to an exceptionally well-preserved specimen from the La Voulte Lagerstätte, reveals for the first time vital aspects of the external and internal morphology of Voulteryon parvulus (Eryonidae), a 165-million-year-old polychelidan: 1) its mouthparts (maxillae and maxillipeds), 2) its digestive tract and 3) its reproductive organs. Comparisons with dissected specimens clearly identify this specimen as a female with mature ovaries. This set of new information offers new insights into the feeding and reproductive habits of Mesozoic polychelidans. Contrasting with other Jurassic polychelidans that lived in shallow-water environments, V. parvulus spawned in, and probably inhabited, relatively deep-water environments, as do the survivors of the group.
authors.affiliation: Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, UMR 5276 CNRS, Laboratoire de géologie de Lyon: Terre, Planètes, Environnement, bâtiment GEODE, 2, rue Raphaël Dubois, 69622 Villeurbanne, France; École Normale Supérieure de Lyon, 46, allée d'Italie, 69364 Lyon cedex 07, France. Electronic address: clement.jauvion@etu.univ-lyon1.fr.
authors.forename: Clément
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Jauvion
authors.affiliation: Université de Rennes 1, EA 7316, 263 Avenue du Général Leclerc CS 74205, 35042 Rennes Cedex, France. Electronic address: denis.audo@univ-rennes1.fr.
authors.forename: Denis
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Audo
authors.affiliation: Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Centre de Recherche sur la Paléobiodiversité et les Paléoenvironnements (CR2P, UMR 7207), Sorbonne Universités-MNHN, CNRS, UPMC-Paris 6, 57 rue Cuvier, F-75005 Paris, France. Electronic address: scharbonnier@mnhn.fr.
authors.forename: Sylvain
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Charbonnier
authors.affiliation: Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, UMR 5276 CNRS, Laboratoire de géologie de Lyon: Terre, Planètes, Environnement, bâtiment GEODE, 2, rue Raphaël Dubois, 69622 Villeurbanne, France. Electronic address: jean.vannier@univ-lyon1.fr.
authors.forename: Jean
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vannier
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D033364:Decapoda / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005580:Fossils / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D005602:France; D055114:X-Ray Microtomography
keywords: Crustacea; Digestive system; Jurassic; La Voulte-sur-Rhône; Reproductive system; X-Ray tomography