Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Nakamura T
PROVIDER: S-EPMC4702995 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Dec
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Nakamura Tetsuya T Klomp Jeff J Pieretti Joyce J Schneider Igor I Gehrke Andrew R AR Shubin Neil H NH
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20151207 52
Extreme novelties in the shape and size of paired fins are exemplified by extinct and extant cartilaginous and bony fishes. Pectoral fins of skates and rays, such as the little skate (Batoid, Leucoraja erinacea), show a strikingly unique morphology where the pectoral fin extends anteriorly to ultimately fuse with the head. This results in a morphology that essentially surrounds the body and is associated with the evolution of novel swimming mechanisms in the group. In an approach that extends fr ...[more]