Abstract
Abstract The morphologic expression of microenvironmental variation is difficult to document in fossil ecosystems and therefore is poorly understood. However, documentation of environmental sources of variation in the phenotype is essential for meaningful studies of microevolution and speciation. A fossil assemblage from the Mississippian (Valmeyeran) Warsaw Formation near St. Louis, Missouri, provides necessary conditions to evaluate microenvironmentally induced phenotypic variation in the Paleozoic trepostome bryozoan Leioclema punctatum (Hall, 1858). Specimens of L. punctatum, found as fragments in 22 discrete piles, were collected in their entirety from a weathered surface. Each pile contained 20–200+ branch fragments of L. punctatum, which were all originally attached to large, soft-bodied hosts (sponges?). Multiple attachment bases were found in most piles, indicating that 1) multiple L. punctatum colonies (genotypes) are represented in each pile, and 2) each pile represents a near contemporaneous, ...
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
