A new ‘spiny’ Silurian mollusc
Another detour
into ‘Mollusca‘. It doesn’t happen often. Will get back to chordates this afternoon.
Sutton et al 2025 reported,
“We describe two new vermiform aculiferan molluscs, Punk ferox and Emo vorticaudum, from the Silurian Herefordshire Lagerstätte (approximately 430 million years before present), a deposit that preserves a diverse open marine biota in remarkable detail.”
Aculifera (older name: Amphineura) is a proposed clade of molluscs incorporating those groups that have no conch or shell. In the Small Mollusc Tree (SMT, Fig 1) shell-less members are part of the first of three origins for Mollusca. That makes this traditionally monophyletic clade a polyphyletic clade, therefore invalid and of no use.
Figure 1. Punk, a Silurian mollusc here compared to two extant mrine nematodes.
” data-medium-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/punk588.jpg?w=300″ data-large-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/punk588.jpg?w=584″ class=”size-full wp-image-91041″ src=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/punk588.jpg” alt=”Figure 1. Punk, a Silurian mollusc here compared to two extant mrine nematodes.” width=”584″ height=”508″ srcset=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/punk588.jpg?w=584&h=508 584w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/punk588.jpg?w=150&h=130 150w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/punk588.jpg?w=300&h=261 300w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/punk588.jpg 588w” sizes=”(max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px” />
Figure 1. Punk, a Silurian mollusc here compared to two extant mrine nematodes.
Sutton et al 2025 reported,
“Aculiferans typically possess a scleritome of cuticular aragonitic spicules. Polyplacophorans are characterized by a series of eight dorsal valves and a ventral foot surrounded by gills.”
“Aplacophorans, comprising the classes Solenogastres and Caudofoveata, have a vermiform shell-less body with a posterior respiratory cavity and a reduced or absent foot.”
“…chitons, for example, have been labelled ‘living fossils’ because they lack cephalized senses and have conservatism in form throughout the fossil record.”
Figure 1. Small mollusc tree (SMT, 22 taxa, 15 traits tested) starts with a flatworm, evolves into at least three nematodes, then continues to evolve into one echinoderm and two mollusc + chordate clades.
” data-medium-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/mollusc-tree588-1.jpg?w=260″ data-large-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/mollusc-tree588-1.jpg?w=584″ class=”size-full wp-image-58185″ src=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/mollusc-tree588-1.jpg” alt=”Figure 1. Small mollusc tree (SMT, 22 taxa, 15 traits tested) starts with a flatworm, evolves into at least three nematodes, then continues to evolve into one echinoderm and two mollusc + chordate clades. ” width=”584″ height=”674″ srcset=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/mollusc-tree588-1.jpg?w=584&h=674 584w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/mollusc-tree588-1.jpg?w=130&h=150 130w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/mollusc-tree588-1.jpg?w=260&h=300 260w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/mollusc-tree588-1.jpg 588w” sizes=”(max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px” />
Figure 1. Small mollusc tree (SMT, 22 taxa, 15 traits tested) starts with a flatworm, evolves into at least three nematodes, then continues to evolve into one echinoderm and two mollusc clades,. A third chordate clade gives rise to a third mollusc clade (grenn, cephalopods.
Sutton et al 2025 reported,
“Recent analyses have consistently recovered a fundamental split into two sister clades,
Conchifera (including gastropods, bivalves and cephalopods) and Aculifera, comprising Polyplacophora (‘chitons’) and Aplacophora.”
These studies did not include outgroup nematodes, chordates, flatworms and echinoderms. Those outgroups are included here (Fig 1).
Even so, that fundamental split described by Sutton et al is reflected in the SMT (Fig 1) and there is a second split = third clade, as well.
References
Sutton MD et al 2025. New Silurian aculiferan fossils reveal complex early history of Mollusca. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-08312-0
Source: https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/2025/01/11/a-new-spiny-silurian-mollusc/
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