A model explaining some bryozoan colonies

2008

AbstractAlthough the colonialism surely developed independently in Graptolithoidea and Bryozoa, both groups share similar patterns of astogeny. One of the common features is the presence of morphological gradients. Many attempts at its explanation were made for more than a half of the century. This paper discusses a new model of the late astogeny in some bryozoan colonies, showing a cyclic reappearance of secondary zones of astogenetic change and astogenetic repetition that cannot be explained by the single morphogen gradient theory.