EVOLUTION & DEVELOPMENT 9:5, 483–498 (2007) Evaluating paedomorphic heterochrony in trilobites: the case of the diminutive trilobite Flexicalymene retrorsa minuens from the Cincinnatian Series (Upper Ordovician), Cincinnati region Brenda R. Hundaa,Ã and Nigel C. Hughesb aCincinnati Museum Center, 1301 Western Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45203, USA bDepartment of Earth Sciences, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, USA ÃAuthor for correspondence (email:
[email protected]) SUMMARY Flexicalymene retrorsa minuens from the upper- rate of progress along a common ontogenetic trajectory with most 3 m of the Waynesville Formation of the Cincinnatian respect to size, coupled with growth cessation at a small size, Series (Upper Ordovician) of North America lived ‘‘sequential’’ progenesis, or non-uniform changes in the rate of approximately 445 Ma and exhibited marked reduction in progress along a shared ontogenetic trajectory with respect to maximum size relative to its stratigraphically subjacent sister size, can also be rejected. Rather, differences between these subspecies, Flexicalymene retrorsa retrorsa. Phylogenetic subspecies are more consistent with localized changes in analysis is consistent with the notion that F. retrorsa retrorsa rates of character development than with a global hetero- was the ancestor of F. retrorsa minuens. F. retrorsa minuens chronic modification of the ancestral ontogeny. The evolution has been claimed to differ from F. retrorsa retrorsa ‘‘in size of F. retrorsa minuens from F. retrorsa retrorsa was largely alone,’’ and thus presents a plausible example of global dominated by modifications of the development of characters paedomorphic evolution in trilobites. Despite strong similarity already evident in the ancestral ontogeny, not by the origin of in the overall form of the two subspecies, F.