New morphological character of euconodont animals (ultramicroscopic investigations). G.I. GURAVSKAYA, A.P. KASSATKINA
Keywords:
euconodont animals, imprints, Lower Carboniferous, Nether-Polar Urals, Granton (Scotland), morphology, form, surface epithelium, lancelet, chord, gut, enervation, nerve plexusAbstract
New morphological character of euconodont animals (ultramicroscopic investigations). G.I. GURAVSKAYA (Far East Geological Institute, FEB RAS, Vladivostok), A.P. KASSATKINA (V.I. Il’ichev Pacific Oceanological Institute, FEB RAS, Vladivostok).
The ultramicroscopic investigations of the surface epithelium showed that the euconodonts were the primitive animals, in which, as distinct from the lancelet, the developed nerve sheath is absent, and the enervation is effected by the nerve plexus. A new morphological character is the evidence of the fact that it is impossible to assign the group of the euconodont animals to the vertebrates and chordates, and supports the earlier made proposal about their belonging to the independent type – Euconodontophylea Kassatkina et Buryi, 1997.
