科研之友
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摘要
Morphogenetic mechanisms in modern Scleractinia provide insights into the habitats and growth forms of corals living in different environmental conditions. Scleractinian morphogenesis has been studied primarily in relation to extrinsic (e.g. environmental) factors, irrespective of specific regularities in budding and their impacts on growth forms. Morphogenesis in colonial dendrophylliids can be modelled by taking these developmental traits into account, so as to understand how intrinsic developmental factors affect morphologies resulting from colonial growth. We used a simple, voxel-based program to simulate the morphogenesis of dendrophylliid corals. Three parameters (budding orientation, inclination of budding, and interval of budding) were adopted to simulate a range of colonial growth forms, regardless of whether the forms exist in nature or not. The regularity of budding was fully taken into account, and various colonial morphologies were gained, even under strict regularity. The regulation of two of the parameters (inclination of budding and budding interval) gives rise to two distinct types of morphologies (branching and massive forms) that are represented by the extant taxa Dendrophyllia arbuscula and Tubastraea coccinea, respectively. This suggests that the growth forms of individual dendrophylliid colonies vary according to habitat conditions, and that they can be simulated by modifying only a few parameters, even given rigid developmental constraints on budding.
- 出版日期2015-7
