コエラカンスの肺には,呼吸と聴覚の2つの機能があります.
Luigi Manuelli1,2, Gaël Clément3, Marc Herbin4
1Department of Earth Sciences, Natural History Museum of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland. Luigi.manuelli@unige.ch.
Communications biology
|February 14, 2026
まとめ
化石のセラカンスは骨格化した肺を持ち,おそらく聴力を助長していた. 新しい研究によると,これらの古代魚は肺を使って呼吸し,内耳に音を伝達していたという.
科学分野:
- パレオントロジー・パレオントロジー
- 比較解剖学 比較解剖学とは
- 機能的形態学 機能的形態学
背景:
- セルカントスは,サルコプテリジアンの進化を理解する上で極めて重要です.
- 化石のセラカントスの骨化室の機能は議論の余地があり,呼吸器や聴覚の役割が提案されている.
研究 の 目的:
- 化石コエラカンスの骨化室の機能を調査する.
- 絶滅したコエラカンツと現存するコエラカンツの肺と内耳の解剖を比較する.
主な方法:
- シンクロトロン相対比マイクロCTスキャンによる化石コエラクンタ.
- 現存するLatimeria chalumnaeの発達段階の分析
- コエラクンスの標本の3D再構築と組織学的検査.
主要な成果:
- 化石のセラカントスは骨格化した肺を持っていた.
- この肺の構造は,周リンパ系を通して,内耳に音圧を伝達することができた.
- 証拠によると,絶滅したセラカントの肺には,呼吸と聴覚の機能が2つあることが示唆されています.
結論:
- 絶滅したコエラクンタは,骨格化した肺を呼吸と聴覚の両方に利用していた可能性が高い.
- この発見は,初期のサルコプテリジアンの機能的形態に関する新しい洞察を提供します.
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