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- Title
The Horseshoe Crab of the Genus Limulus: Living Fossil or Stabilomorph?
- Authors
Kin, Adrian; Błażejowski, Błażej
- Abstract
A new horseshoe crab species, Limulus darwini, is described from the uppermost Jurassic (ca. 148 Ma) near-shore sediments of the Kcynia Formation, central Poland. The only extant species Limulus polyphemus (Linnaeus) inhabits brackish-marine, shallow water environments of the east coast of the United States. Here it is shown that there are no important morphological differences between the Kcynia Formation specimens and extant juvenile representatives of the genus Limulus. The palaeoecological setting inhabited by the new species and the trophic relationships of extant horseshoe crabs are discussed in an attempt to determine the potential range of food items ingested by these Mesozoic xiphosurans. In this paper we propose the adoption of a new term stabilomorphism, this being: an effect of a specific formula of adaptative strategy among organisms whose taxonomic status does not exceed genus-level. A high effectiveness of adaptation significantly reduces the need for differentiated phenotypic variants in response to environmental changes and provides for long-term evolutionary success.
- Subjects
LIMULIDAE; XIPHOSURA; FOSSILS; LIMULUS polyphemus; TAXONOMY
- Publication
PLoS ONE, 2014, Vol 9, Issue 10, p1
- ISSN
1932-6203
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1371/journal.pone.0108036