Molecular techniques are currently the leading tools for reconstructing phylogenetic
relationships, but our understanding of ancestral, plesiomorphic and apomorphic characters …

Modularity is a fundamental concept in biology. Most taxa within the colonial invertebrate
phylum Bryozoa have achieved division of labour through the development of specialized …

Marine invertebrates belonging to a broad range of taxa disperse aquatic spermatozoa to
fertilize eggs that are retained rather than spawned. We outline the occurrence of this …

Many animal phyla have the physiological ability to produce biomineralized skeletons with
functional roles that have been shaped by natural selection for more than 500 million years …

Foveaux Strait, a narrow seaway that is exposed to heavy wave action and strong tidal
currents, has been the subject of an oyster fishery for over 130 years. Before the oyster …

This study presents a compilation of the temporal distribution of 200 bryozoan genera during
the Ordovician. Bryozoans appeared in the earliest Ordovician (Tremadoc), diversified …

Recent research on the ultrastructure of the calcareous skeleton in the bryozoan order
Cyclostomata is summarized and updated, based on field emission SEM studies of 87 …

The bryozoan Cass Stenolaemata is currently represented by the Order Cyclostomata. They
produce skeletons made exclusively of calcite crystals assembled into different …

Background Cyclostome bryozoans are an ancient group of marine colonial suspension-
feeders comprising approximately 700 extant species. Previous morphological studies are …

The Phylum Bryozoa has a long and extensive fossil record (Fig. 2.1) counting ca 15,000
fossil species (Horowitz & Pachut 2000, Gordon et al. 2009). Their remnants are found in the …