Microanatomy of Early Devonian book lungs.

ABSTRACT: The book lungs of an exceptionally preserved fossil arachnid (Trigonotarbida) from the Early Devonian (approx. 410 Myr ago) Rhynie cherts of Scotland were studied using a non-destructive imaging technique. Our three-dimensional modelling of fine structures, based on assembling successive images made at different focal planes through the translucent chert matrix, revealed for the first time fossil trabeculae: tiny cuticular pillars separating adjacent lung lamellae and creating a permanent air space. Trabeculae thus show unequivocally that trigonotarbids were fully terrestrial and that the microanatomy of the earliest known lungs is indistinguishable from that in modern Arachnida. A recurrent controversy in arachnid evolution is whether the similarity between the book lungs of Pantetrapulmo

SUBMITTER: Kamenz C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2429929 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature