There is now compelling evidence that many arthropods pattern their segments using a
clock-and-wavefront mechanism, analogous to that operating during vertebrate …

Molluscs comprise the second largest phylum of animals (after arthropods), occurring in
virtually all habitats. Some are commercially important, a few are pests and some carry …

The evolution of nervous systems in animals has always fascinated biologists, and thus
multiple evolutionary scenarios have been proposed to explain the appearance of neurons …

It has been hypothesized that a condensed nervous system with a medial ventral nerve cord
is an ancestral character of Bilateria. The presence of similar dorsoventral molecular …

Temporal collinearity is often considered the main force preserving Hox gene clusters in
animal genomes. Studies that combine genomic and gene expression data are scarce …

In vertebrates, the three orthogonal body axes, anteroposterior (AP), dorsoventral (DV) and
left-right (LR) are determined at gastrula and neurula stages by the Spemann-Mangold …

ABSTRACT Invertebrate Zoology: A Tree of Life Approach is a comprehensive and
authoritative textbook adopting an explicitly phylogenetic organization. Most of the classical …

Abstract Background Toll-like receptors (TLRs) play a crucial role in immunity and
development. They contain leucine-rich repeat domains, one transmembrane domain, and …

Background Brachiopods and molluscs are lophotrochozoans with hard external shells
which are often believed to have evolved convergently. While palaeontological data indicate …

Shell formation is a dynamic process involving organic matrix secretion and calcification. In
this study, we characterized shell morphogenesis during larval development in Crassostrea …