Biology:Lunostoma

From HandWiki
Short description: Extinct genus of moss animals

Lunostoma
Temporal range: Middle Devonian
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Phylum:
Bryozoa
Class:
Order:
Cryptostomata
Suborder:
Rhabdomesina
Family:
Rhomboporidae
Genus:
Lunostoma

Ernst et al., 2012

Lunostoma is an extinct genus of bryozoans which existed during the middle Devonian of what is now Germany , precisely from the Gerolstein syncline. It was described by Andrej Ernst, Paul D. Taylor, Jan Bohatý and Patrick N. Wyse Jackson in 2012, and the type species is L. pulchra.[1]

Morphology

Lunostoma was a small animal, branches being about 1.3 mm wide.[1] It is unique among Rhabdomesina bryozoans in featuring "scutes", crescent-shaped structures on the proximal side of apertures.[1] The function of these structures, which resemble the lunaria of cystoporate bryozoans, is unclear, and it is possibly an example of convergent evolution.[1] Otherwise it is similar to Saffordotaxis.

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Andrej Ernst; Paul D. Taylor; Jan Bohatý; Patrick N. Wyse Jackson (2012). "Homeomorphy in Lunostoma, a new Middle Devonian cryptostome bryozoan". Paläontologische Zeitschrift 86 (2): 135–145. doi:10.1007/s12542-011-0127-8. 

Wikidata ☰ Q16754560 entry