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The mouth, the anus, and the blastopore—open questions about questionable openings
Abstract
Gastrulation is one of the major events during the embryogenesis of an animal. In addition to the formation of the germ layers it is often the time when the future axial properties and digestive openings become apparent and it is not surprising that this event plays an important role in hypotheses regarding metazoan evolution. A major difference between these theories concerns the structure of the alimentary canal and the relationship of its openings to the blastopore of the last common bilaterian ancestor. Here we review competing theories of bilaterian evolution and evaluate their plausibility in the light of recent insights into metazoan phylogeny and development.
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Metadata
- Authors
- Hejnol, A., & Martindale, M. Q.
- Venue
- Animal Evolution
- Publisher
- Oxford University PressOxford
- Published
- 2009-08-01
- Pages
- 33-40
- OpenAlex
- W2484289921
- Semantic Scholar
- 84f6b2003fb205518a405ca36f9bf008ada71b75
- Cited by
- 37
- References
- 1,067
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 3 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 5 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 8 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 1 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 2.37
- Type
- book chapter
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Developmental Biology and Gene Regulation
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Animal Science and Zoology › Marine Invertebrate Physiology and Ecology
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Paleontology and Evolutionary Biology
- Keywords
- blastopore, oral cavity, anus, gastrointestinal tract, gastrulation, bilaterian evolution, metazoan phylogeny, germ layers, evolutionary developmental biology
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