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Article: Early postembryonic to mature ontogeny of the oryctocephalid trilobite Duodingia duodingensis from the lower Cambrian (Series 2) of southern China

Papers in Palaeontology - Vol. 1 Part 4 - Cover Image
Publication: Papers in Palaeontology
Volume: 1
Part: 4
Publication Date: November 2015
Page(s): 497 513
Author(s): Jin-Bo Hou, Nigel C. Hughes, Tian Lan, Jie Yang and Xi-Guang Zhang
DOI: 10.1002/spp2.1021
Addition Information

How to Cite

Hou, J.-B., Hughes, N. C., Lan, T., Yang, J. and Zhang, X.-G. (2015), Early postembryonic to mature ontogeny of the oryctocephalid trilobite Duodingia duodingensis from the lower Cambrian (Series 2) of southern China. Papers in Palaeontology, 1: 497–513. doi: 10.1002/spp2.1021

Author Information

  • Jin-Bo Hou - Key Laboratory for Palaeobiology, Yunnan University, Kunming, China (email: houjinboo@gmail.com)
  • Nigel C. Hughes - Department of Earth Sciences, University of California, Riverside, CA, USA (email: nigel.hughes@ucr.edu)
  • Tian Lan - Key Laboratory for Palaeobiology, Yunnan University, Kunming, China (email: lantianing@sina.com)
  • Jie Yang - Key Laboratory for Palaeobiology, Yunnan University, Kunming, China (email: yangjie@ynu.edu.cn)
  • Xi-Guang Zhang - Key Laboratory for Palaeobiology, Yunnan University, Kunming, China (email: xgzhang@ynu.edu.cn)

Publication History

  • Issue published online: 9 NOV 2015
  • Article first published online: 28 JUL 2015
  • Manuscript Accepted: 2 JUN 2015
  • Manuscript Received: 25 FEB 2015

Funded By

National Natural Science Foundation of China. Grant Numbers: 41272027, 41472022, U1402232
Ministry of Education of China. Grant Number: 20115301110001
US National Science Foundation. Grant Number: EAR-1124303
Department of Education of Yunnan Province. Grant Number: 2012J056
Yunnan University. Grant Number: ynuy201304

Online Version Hosted By

Wiley Online Library
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Abstract

Many well-preserved, articulated exoskeletons recovered from the early Cambrian (Stage 3) Mingxinsi Formation in Weng'an, Guizhou Province, southern China, permit reconstruction of the early postembryonic to mature (i.e. protaspid to holaspid) ontogeny of the small oryctocephalid trilobite Duodingia duodingensis Chow. It is likely that the type material is a latest stage meraspis, and the species had nine thoracic segments in the holaspid phase rather than the eight suggested previously. The earliest holaspis is relatively small in size (about 3.00 mm in total length), and the succeeding instars show little size-related shape change. Striking changes take place in the morphology of the glabella during early ontogeny including forward extension of the axial furrows until they reach the anterior cephalic margin in meraspid degree 0iii, and narrowing of the glabellar mid-region. This is the first noneodiscid trilobite to show three developmental stages within meraspid degree 0. Documentation of ontogenetic changes demonstrates that both Duodingia hubeiensis and D. taihuensis are junior synonyms of D. duodingensis because they bear characters of particular ontogenetic stages of their senior synonym. The per-moult growth increment in D. duodingensis was apparently small in this small trilobite. The development of trunk segmentation during the meraspid phase is apparently more complex than in many other trilobites and could include multiple moults within individual meraspid degrees, intraspecific polymorphism in the pattern of segment release, or phenotypic variation among the population in the degree of segment expression. Fluctuations between accumulative moults, in which segments are added to the meraspid pygidium, and depletive moults, in which segments are released into the thorax, if confirmed, would suggest tight coordination between these different aspects of trunk segment development.

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