Mechanics unlocks the morphogenetic puzzle of interlocking bivalved shells.

ABSTRACT: Brachiopods and mollusks are 2 shell-bearing phyla that diverged from a common shell-less ancestor more than 540 million years ago. Brachiopods and bivalve mollusks have also convergently evolved a bivalved shell that displays an apparently mundane, yet striking feature from a developmental point of view: When the shell is closed, the 2 valve edges meet each other in a commissure that forms a continuum with no gaps or overlaps despite the fact that each valve, secreted by 2 mantle lobes, may present antisymmetric ornamental patterns of varying regularity and size. Interlocking is maintained throughout the entirety of development, even when the shell edge exhibits significant irregularity due to injury or other environmental influences, which suggests a dynamic physical process of pattern f

SUBMITTER: Moulton DE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6955362 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature