Ontogenetic correlation between muscle and nervous system novelties in a neritimorph gastropod

dc.contributor.authorFerguson, Samuel
dc.contributor.supervisorPage, Louise Roberta
dc.date.accessioned2015-08-14T21:20:29Z
dc.date.available2016-07-31T11:22:06Z
dc.date.copyright2015en_US
dc.date.issued2015-08-14
dc.degree.departmentDepartment of Biologyen_US
dc.degree.levelMaster of Science M.Sc.en_US
dc.description.abstractHatching larvae of neritimorph gastropods have a bilateral set of both larval and pedal retractor muscles, which is unique among gastropod molluscs. Adults also display a novel connection (“shortcut”) between the two pleural ganglia. To reconstruct the evolution of the novel shortcut between pleural ganglia and its functional role, I studied the development of the central nervous system and muscle innervation in three distinct larval and one post-metamorphic stages of Nerita melanotragus using light and transmission electron microscopy and surface-rendered three-dimensional reconstructions. My results revealed that the novel shortcut is derived from an ancestral nerve connective, which establishes an unconventional link between the ganglia that generate motor output to the bilateral set of larval and pedal retractor muscles to coordinate activity of these muscles. The unique characteristics of the shell, muscles and nervous system in N. melanotragus represent secondarily derived characteristics that co- evolved as an integrated functional unit.en_US
dc.description.proquestcode0472en_US
dc.description.scholarlevelGraduateen_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1828/6450
dc.languageEnglisheng
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.rightsAvailable to the World Wide Weben_US
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/*
dc.subjectevolutionen_US
dc.subjectdevelopmenten_US
dc.subjectnervous system morphologyen_US
dc.subjectgastropodaen_US
dc.subjectmolluscaen_US
dc.titleOntogenetic correlation between muscle and nervous system novelties in a neritimorph gastropoden_US
dc.typeThesisen_US

Files

Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Name:
Ferguson_Samuel_MSc_2015.pdf
Size:
115.19 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
License bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
license.txt
Size:
1.74 KB
Format:
Item-specific license agreed upon to submission
Description: