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Vertebrate cephalogenesis. VI. A. The velum—its in head building—the hyoid. The Velata. The origin of the vertebrate head skeleton. B. Myxinoid characters inherited by the teleostomi
Author(s) -
Ayers Howard
Publication year - 1931
Publication title -
journal of morphology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.652
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1097-4687
pISSN - 0362-2525
DOI - 10.1002/jmor.1050520202
Subject(s) - anatomy , biology , skeleton (computer programming) , vertebrate , head (geology) , hyoid bone , appendicular skeleton , genetics , paleontology , gene
The oldest parts of the fibrous, cartilaginous, and bony head skeleton of vertebrates descend from the amphioxid ancestors of the myxinoid fishes. The skeleton of the velum and jaw bars of the amphioxids transform into the jaw apparatus and hyoid‐velar head skeleton of the myxinoids, and some parts are passed on by inheritance to the teleostome fishes (sturgeons). These anatomical characters prove descent with modification. The theory of the origin of jaws and hyoid from branchial cartilages is not supported by the facts, as both jaws and hyoid structures were developed long before branchial cartilages furnished material for head building. The Velata, the oldest of living vertebrates, include the amphioxids and marsipobranchs, and are marked off from the higher forms by the important organ, the velum, which separates the prebranchial from the branchial head. A remnant of the velum inherited by all of the higher vertebrates is the hyoid mechanism—an important anatomical landmark.