Origins, Phylogeny, Biogeography and Evolutionary Mechanisms in Neogastropds

MARÍA JOSÉ PIO

Workshop; Fouth International Workshop of Neogastropods.; 2014

Muricid gastropod radulae are more complex than those of most other neogastropods, especially in the number and variety of cusps, denticles, and interlocking mechanisms.How this complexity evolved, however, is unknown. Morphological gaps between higher taxa within the Muricidae are substantial, and there are few unambiguous intermediates.Here, we use developmental data from the Patagonian trophonine muricidTrophon geversianusto investigate the evolution of an unusual condition in which there are two marginal cusps at each end of each central rachidian tooth, rather than one or none as in most muricids.