The Youngest Ctenocystoids from the Upper Ordovician of the United Kingdom and the Evolution of the Bilateral Body Plan in Echinoderms
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Editors' choice The youngest ctenocystoids from the Upper Ordovician of the United Kingdom and the evolution of the bilateral body plan in echinoderms IMRAN A. RAHMAN, SARAH E. STEWART, and SAMUEL ZAMORA Rahman, I.A., Stewart, S.E., and Zamora, S. 2015. The youngest ctenocystoids from the Upper Ordovician of the United Kingdom and the evolution of the bilateral body plan in echinoderms. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 60 (1): 39–48. During the early Palaeozoic, echinoderm body plans were much more diverse than they are today, displaying four distinct types of symmetry. This included the bilateral ctenocystoids, which were long thought to be restricted to the Cambrian. Here, we describe a new species of ctenocystoid from the Upper Ordovician of Scotland (Conollia sporranoides sp. nov.). This allows us to revise the genus Conollia, which was previously based on a single poorly-known species from the Upper Ordovician of Wales (Conollia staffordi). Both these species are characterized by a unique morphology con- sisting of an elongate-ovoid body covered in spines, which clearly distinguishes them from their better-known Cambrian relatives; they are interpreted as infaunal or semi-infaunal burrowers from deep-water environments. This indicates that the ctenocystoid body plan was not fixed early in the evolution of the group, and they most likely modified their structure as an adaptation to a new mode of life in the Ordovician. Key words: Echinodermata, Ctenocystoidea, evolution, bilateral symmetry, body plans, Ordovician, United Kingdom. Imran A. Rahman [[email protected]], School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Life Sciences Build- ing, 24 Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TQ, UK. Sarah E. Stewart [[email protected]], Department of Natural Sciences, National Museum of Scotland, Cham- bers Street, Edinburgh EH1 1JF, UK. Samuel Zamora [[email protected]], Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithso- nian Institution, Washington DC, 20013-7012, USA; and Museo Geominero, Instituto Geológico y Minero de España, C/ Manuel Lasala, 44-9º B, 50006 Zaragoza, Spain. Received 4 December 2013, accepted 20 March 2014, available online 24 March 2014. Copyright © 2015 I.A. Rahman et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. a pentaradiate body plan (e.g., pleurocystitid rhombiferans Introduction and irregular echinoids), only ctenocystoids lack any trace of The initial diversification of echinoderm body plans was underlying radiality. Some have argued that ctenocystoids in- extremely rapid, with bilateral, asymmetrical, spiral and dicate the plesiomorphic condition for echinoderms (Ubaghs pentaradiate forms appearing together in some of the oldest 1975; Rahman and Clausen 2009; Zamora et al. 2012), while known (Cambrian) echinoderm faunas (Smith et al. 2013). others interpret them as secondarily derived, with the most Out of these four clearly differentiated body plans, only pen- primitive known echinoderms pentaradiate (Sumrall 1997; taradiate clades remain today; all other forms became extinct David et al. 2000; Sumrall and Wray 2007). This debate has during the Palaeozoic, over 250 million years ago (Sprinkle been fuelled, in part, by their unusual character combination; 1983; Sumrall and Wray 2007). ctenocystoids are stem-less and have a strongly bilaterally The bilateral body plan is perhaps the most intriguing symmetrical body (theca), which is typically flattened and organization in the phylum Echinodermata, recalling their framed by one or, more often, two rings of marginal plates. bilaterian ancestry, and it is represented by a single early Both the upper and lower thecal surfaces are covered by flex- Palaeozoic group, the ctenocystoids (Fig. 1). While several ible, tessellated membranes. At the anterior of the theca, a other groups display bilateral symmetry superimposed on specialized organ called the ctenidium covers the mouth; this Acta Palaeontol. Pol. 60 (1): 39–48, 2015 http://dx.doi.org/10.4202/app.00048.2013 40 ACTA PALAEONTOLOGICA POLONICA 60 (1), 2015 A1 A 2 C B 2 mm 1 mm 1 mm DE F G H 1 mm 2 mm 2 mm 1 mm 1 mm Fig. 1. Representative Cambrian ctenocystoid echinoderms. A, B. Ctenocystis utahensis Robison and Sprinkle, 1969 from Cambrian Series 3 of the United States. USNM 163252 in dorsal (A1) and anterior (A2) views; USNM 595079 in right lateral view (B). C. Undescribed ctenocystoid (Ctenocystoid gen. et sp. nov 1 in Smith et al. 2013) from Cambrian Series 3 of Morocco. NHMUK EE 15428 in dorsal view. D. Courtessolea moncereti Domínguez Alonso, 2004 from Cambrian Series 3 of France. MNHN F.A45783 in dorsal view. E. Courtessolea sp. from Cambrian Series 3 of Spain. MPZ 2009/1234b in ventral view. F. Undescribed ctenocystoid (Ctenocystoid gen. et sp. nov 2 in Smith et al. 2013) from Cambrian Series 3 of Morocco. NHMUK EE 15317 in ventral view. G, H. Jugoszovia archaeocyathoides Dzik and Orłowski, 1995 from Cambrian Series 3 of Poland. ZPAL Ec1/9 in ventral view (G); ZPAL Ec1/1 in anterior view (H). All specimens are latex casts whitened with ammonium chloride sublimate. is composed of a series of distinctive blade-like plates. At the functional morphology and mode of life of Conollia Domín- posterior, the anus is represented by a cone-shaped aperture guez Alonso, 2004. (Robison and Sprinkle 1969; Rahman and Clausen 2009). Institutional abbreviations.—GLAHM, Hunterian Museum, Ctenocystoids were geographically widespread in the Glasgow, UK; MNHN, Muséum National d’Histoire Na- Cambrian (reported from Baltica, Laurentia, East Gondwa- turelle, Paris, France; MPZ, Museo de Paleontología, Uni- na, and West Gondwana), but had a limited stratigraphical versidad de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain; NHMUK, Natural range, being restricted to Stage 5 and the Drumian (Smith History Museum, London, UK; USNM, Smithsonian Institu- et al. 2013; Zamora et al. 2013). In addition, a single enig- tion National Museum of Natural History, Washington, D.C., matic species has been reported from post-Cambrian rocks, USA; ZPAL, Institute of Paleobiology, Polish Academy of Conollia staffordi Domínguez Alonso, 2004 from the Up- Sciences, Warsaw, Poland. per Ordovician of Wales. Here, we report a new species of Nomenclatural acts.—The electronic edition of this article ctenocystoid, Conollia sporranoides sp. nov., from the Up- conforms to the requirements of the amended International per Ordovician of Scotland, and accordingly reconsider the Code of Zoological Nomenclature, and hence the new names anatomy of the genus. This provides novel insights into the contained herein are available under that Code from the elec- RAHMAN ET AL.—ORDOVICIAN CTENOCYSTOIDS FROM UNITED KINGDOM 41 tronic edition of this article. This published work and the A N Craighead Inlier South of Girvan S nomenclatural acts it contains have been registered in Zoo- Bank, the online registration system for the ICZN. The Zoo- Silurian Bank LSIDs (Life Science Identifiers) can be resolved and Hirnantian Drummuck the associated information viewed through any standard web ? Subgroup ? browser by appending the LSID to the prefix “http://zoobank. Katian org/”. The LSID for this publication is: urn:lsid:zoobank. Whitehouse Subgroup org:act:6A991154-F352-403E-8F2D-36D065CC9379. Craighead Lst. Formation Ardwell Farm The electronic edition of this work was published in a Formation journal with an ISSN 0567-7920, eISSN 1732-2421, and Ardmillan Group has been archived and is available from the following digital Ordovician Balclathie repository: http://www.app.pan.pl/home.html. Sandbian Formation Albany Barr ? Group Group Geological setting, material, Darriwilian B and methods sandstones conglomerates N Approximately 26 specimens of Conollia sporranoides sp. mudstones and silts nov. (GLAHM 131255/1–GLAHM 131255/26) were collect- limestones ed from the Laggan Member of the Balclatchie Formation at Glasgow Silurian conglomerates Edinburgh Dalfask Quarry in Girvan, northwest Scotland, UK (Fig. 2). Ballantrae ophiolite This locality is part of a deep-water Konservat Lagerstätte, Girvan faults 100 km which is early Caradoc (Sandbian, Upper Ordovician) in age. Laggan Member Dalfask Quarry exposes a succession of blue-grey, calcare- Fig. 2. Stratigraphical position (A) and geographical location (B) of the ous, laminated siltstone and mudstone beds, representing a site where Conollia sporranoides sp. nov. was collected. Adapted from localized low-oxygen environment below the photic zone, Ingham (1992). perhaps with an unconsolidated muddy substrate (Stewart and Owen 2008). It contains a diverse, unusual fauna of ben- slab of siltstone containing multiple specimens of Conollia thic invertebrates, which is dominated by the odontopleurid sporranoides sp. nov. This sample was scanned on a Nikon trilobite Diacanthaspis trippi, the orthid brachiopod Onniel- XT H 225 ST cabinet scanner at the Natural History Museum, la williamsi, the polyplacophoran Solenocaris solenoides, a London, using a current/voltage of 180 kV/150 μA. This gen- possible new species of the stylophoran Anatifopsis and the erated a dataset of 1950 slice images with a voxel size of about ctenocystoid Conollia sporranoides sp. nov. (Stewart and 30 μm (SOM 1: Supplementary Online Material available at Owen 2008). Ctenocystoids occur on a single slab of lami- http://app.pan.pl/SOM/app60-Rahman_etal_SOM.pdf). This