Morphogenesis in the individual and historical development of marine post-Paleozoic Tubuliporida (bryozoa, Stenolaemata)

Abstract

The principal features of the morphogenesis in the individual and historical development of marine post-Paleozoic bryozoans of the order Tubuliporida (=Cyclostomata, part.) are discussed. Throughout their history (Ordovician–Recent), Tubuliporida retained the morphological type of the tubu-lar zooid with a terminal aperture. This may suggest similarities not only between the zooidal anatomy of fossil and living Tubuliporida but also between the ontogenetic processes in their ancestrulae and zooids and similarities in astogeny in general. After the two types of reproduction, sexual and vegetative, which lead to the formation of new colonies that could only grow by budding, had been developed, the develop-ment of different types of colonial organization was of special importance in the evolution of the post-Pale-ozoic Tubuliporida.