Why bryozoans have avicularia : a review of the evidence

Title Variants

Alternative: Bryozoan avicularia

Related Titles

Series: American Museum novitates, no. 2789

By

Winston, Judith E.

Type

Book

Material

Published material

Publication info

New York, N.Y, American Museum of Natural History, c1984

Notes

Title from caption.

"June 11, 1984."

"This review summarizes the evidence for alternative functions of avicularia and vibracula. In the present paper I review the history of speculation on the adaptive function of avicularia and evaluate the evidence for the various functions suggested for them: defense, food-gathering, creation of water currents, respiration, cleaning, and nutrient storage. Then I suggest some alternative views and ways in which they might be tested. Early workers believed that their function might be defense of the colony, and since Darwin's time this function has become tied in with a selectionist argument in which increasing polymorphism of colonies, specialization of zooids for feeding, reproduction, and defense leads to increasing success. In only a few cases has the function of avicularia and vibracula been empirically established. The pedunculate Bugula type of avicularia has the ability to capture possible enemies. The vibracula of some lunulitiform colonies are used in locomotion and cleaning. No defensive or other function has been demonstrated for other avicularia and in fact, observations on their morphology, behavior, and position in the colony are incompatible with the hypothesis that they act in defense of the colony"--P. [1].

Subjects

Anatomy , Animal colonies , Bryozoa , Bugula

Call Number

QL1 .A436 no.2789, 1984

Language

English

Identifiers

OCLC: 6682445