Some Echinoderms Will Never Grow Up
Some Echinoderms Will Never Grow Up avatar

Not your typical Echinoderm. This female specimen of a Xyloplax seastar was collected along the Juan de Fuca Ridge off the coast of the state of Washington; it measures less than a quarter-inch (4 mm) and shows brooded embryos Some of us never grow up. In fact I am writing this now in my Aquaman . . . → Read More: Some Echinoderms Will Never Grow Up

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Barnacle Evolution I: Phylogeny Served Without Plates
Barnacle Evolution I: Phylogeny Served Without Plates avatar

Lepas anatifera from Washington state, USA. Photo credit: David Cowles 1997. Barnacle evolution was recently rewritten by a large effort of Perez-Losada and colleagues in 2008. Using a combination of genes and morphological traits they rejected some of the ideas that were foundational to barnacle biology and taxonomy, while giving new support for other . . . → Read More: Barnacle Evolution I: Phylogeny Served Without Plates

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What in Darwin’s Name Are Chaetognaths?!
What in Darwin’s Name Are Chaetognaths?! avatar

Lynn Margulis classified the Chaetognaths, known as arrow worms, as deuterostomes. Deuterostomy is characterized by several developmental characteristics including radial, indeterminate cleavage, a posterior position of the blastopore (deuterostomy=”second mouth”), enterocoelous coelom formation and a tripartite adult body plan with a post-anal tail. At least this is what I was taught “growing up”. Three . . . → Read More: What in Darwin’s Name Are Chaetognaths?!

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