Relating Zooid and Colony Growth in Modular Organisms Arborescent Cheilostome Bryozoans

9306729利德加与狗或猫等独居动物不同，苔藓动物是动物群体。每个蜂群由数十个甚至数千个被称为动物园的模块组成。一个群体内的动物园通常在形式上彼此不同，但通过从先前存在的动物园发芽来分享类似的生长方式。因此，这种殖民地组织带来了独居动物成长过程中所没有的多样性和复杂性。不同的动物群排列和不同的萌芽过程使苔藓虫群体成长为各种不同的形式，包括藤本植物、床单、土丘和微型“树”。苔藓虫是生活在海洋和淡水栖息地的最多样化的海底动物群体。然而，对于许多结壳和大多数直立的苔藓动物来说，与萌芽和克隆形成相关的骨骼解剖学是未知的，因为还没有进行过广泛的研究。这项研究的目的是分析树状唇口苔藓虫中的动物样体和群体生长，并填补被忽视的唇口形态领域的关键空白。这些比较研究将使(A)在结壳群体研究的基础上对以前的生长模型进行评估和扩展，以包括新发现的直立群体的模式，(B)评估与动物和群体生长有关的特征的分类分布，以及(C)记录动物形态与萌芽模式和群体形态之间的关系。光学显微镜和扫描电子显微镜将被用来比较活体和化石群体的生长模式。苔藓动物是一种有趣而又鲜为人知的群居动物。看似单一的“树状”形态，实际上可能由数千个个体组成。该项目将研究活的和化石形式的这些动物的群体生长模式。洞察将提供给一大群动物，这些动物的高层关系没有得到很好的解决，其化石记录包含了大量已知的多样性。***

9306729 Lidgard Unlike solitary animals such as dogs or cats, bryozoans are animal colonies. Each colony is made up of tens or even thousands of modules called zooids. The zooids within a colony often differ from one another in form, but share a similar kind of growth by budding from pre-existing zooids. This colonial organization thus introduces variation and complexity not found in the growth of solitary animals. Different arrangements of zooids and different budding processes allow bryozoan colonies to grow into a remarkable variety of forms, including vines, sheets, mounds and miniature "trees". Bryozoans are among the most diverse groups of bottom dwelling animals in marine and freshwater habitats. Yet skeletal anatomy related to budding and colony formation is unknown for many encrusting and most erect bryozoans because no broadly based study has been attempted. The purpose of this research is to analyze zooid and colony growth among tree-like cheilostome bryozoans and to fill critical gaps in neglected areas of cheilostome morphology. These comparative studies will allow (a) evaluation and extension of previous growth models based on studies of encrusting colonies to include newly recognized patterns in erect colonies, (b) assessment of the taxonomic distribution of characters related to zooid and colony growth, and (c) documentation of relationships among zooid form and budding patterns and colony form. Light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy will be used to compare growth patterns in both living and fossil groups. %%% Bryozoans are interesting and poorly understood colonial animals. What appears to be a single "tree-like" form may actually consist of thousands of individuals. This project will study patterns of colony growth both in living and fossil forms of these animals. Insights will be provides for a major group of animals whose higher level relationships are poorly resolved and whose fossil record contains muc h of the known diversity. ***