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A 520 million-year-old chelicerate larva.
Yu Liu1, Joachim T Haug2, Carolin Haug2
11] Yunnan Key Laboratory for Palaeobiology, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, China [2] Developmental Neurobiology Group, Biocenter, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Großhaderner Street 2, 82152 Planegg-Martinsried, Germany.
Nature Communications
|July 16, 2014
Summary
Early Cambrian arthropods, Leanchoilia illecebrosa, show niche differentiation between larval and adult stages. This survival strategy, seen in modern animals, originated in the early Cambrian period.
Area of Science:
- Paleontology
- Evolutionary Biology
- Arthropod Biology
Background:
- Niche differentiation, where different life stages occupy distinct ecological roles, is a key survival strategy in many animal species.
- The short great appendage (SGA) arthropods (megacheirans) are fossil arthropods from the Cambrian period, considered early relatives of Chelicerata (horseshoe crabs and arachnids).
Purpose of the Study:
- To describe an exceptionally preserved larval specimen of Leanchoilia illecebrosa from the early Cambrian Chengjiang biota.
- To investigate the presence and implications of niche differentiation in early Cambrian megacheiran arthropods.
Main Methods:
- Detailed morphological analysis of an exceptionally preserved fossil specimen.
- Comparative analysis of larval features with known adult morphology of Leanchoilia illecebrosa and related taxa.
Main Results:
- The larval specimen of Leanchoilia illecebrosa exhibits unique fine details of the short great appendage (SGA), the primary feeding limb, which are absent in the adult.
- This demonstrates that niche differentiation between larval and adult stages was present in this early Cambrian megacheiran species.
Conclusions:
- Niche differentiation during ontogeny was established in early Cambrian megacheirans, suggesting this strategy is ancient.
- The discovery provides evidence that complex life history strategies, common in extant arthropods, originated in the early Cambrian.
