A new species of chiton – a tiny, armored marine mollusk whose lineage is roughly 500 million years old – has been discovered off the coast of South Korea after routine genetic analysis showed it was not the known creature that researchers thought.
This species is named Iron flower spiny beetlecollected from the southern and western coasts of Korea. It was previously considered a subspecies spiny beetle Because to the naked eye they look almost identical.
Mitochondrial genome sequencing and scanning electron microscopy are needed to distinguish them.
What is a chiton
Chitons are flat, oval-shaped marine molluscs belonging to this class polyplate. They carry eight overlapping shell plates on their backs and cling to rocks in coastal waters around the world. It is estimated that they evolved about 500 million years ago.
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There are more than 1,300 species of chitons known to science, with more extant species than extinct species. Some 940 known species have changed little over the past 300 million years and are therefore known as “living fossils.”
polyplate Diversification began during the Devonian period about 378 million years ago. genus EchinaceaThe new species belongs to a species that formed during the Late Cretaceous about 92 million years ago.
How did this discovery happen?
Biologists Hyang Kim and Ui Wook Hang of Kyungpook National University sequenced the mitochondrial genome of the newly discovered species and compared it with four other existing species Echinacea species. The results are different than expected.
Scanning electron microscopy analysis revealed that the dorsal spicules on the shells were round, not pointed. There are also differences in the radula (feeding structures) and shell plates. Molecular genetic analysis confirmed it is a distinct species.
Their findings were published in Marine Biotechnology.
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“These molecular techniques have proven effective in revealing cryptic species within groups that share morphological similarities,” the researchers said.
Species names have meanings. Ferossa From the Latin “ferox,” meaning “fierce” or “hairy,” referring to the distinctive tufting around the edges of its flat, oval shell. Even among creatures that look alike at first glance, this creature has subtle visual features that are hidden from plain sight.
Why it’s more important than a species
The discovery belongs to a growing category in biology: cryptic species, organisms that look nearly identical to known species but are genetically distinct.
The researchers used their work as the basis for a wider investigation. “The results of this study can provide basic data for future molecular research Echinaceaproviding insights into the complete mitochondrial genomes of these five species and their phylogenetic relationships,” Kim and Hang said in the study.
Chitons are a particularly rich proving ground for this type of work. With 940 species showing minimal physical change over 300 million years, the gap between their appearance and what their genomes reveal may hide a host of undiscovered species.
This discovery redefines what “living fossil” means in practice. An animal may look the same for hundreds of millions of years and still differentiate into different species at the genetic level. Stability is superficial. Underneath, evolution is still at work.
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