Meeting Abstract

39.1  Friday, Jan. 4  Ocular Skeletal Adaptations for the Devonian Deep-Sea PILGRIM, B.; FRANZ-ODENDAAL, TA*; Mount Saint, Vincent Univ., Halifax, Canada; Mount Saint, Vincent Univ., Halifax, Canada Tamara.Franz-Odendaal@msvu.ca

Aquatic organisms face challenges with regards to vision at different depths since the different zones in the water column have different amounts of light penetration. Thus aquatic organisms have adapted and altered their eye morphology compared to terrestrial animals. Much is known about the photic zones in the deep sea at present, and the corresponding adaptations of fishes. In this study we explore the skeletal supports within the eye in modern bony fish and modern sharks, as well as in fossil sharks and arthrodires from the Cleveland Shale (360 mya). We discovered that the skeletal supports are different in modern sharks compared to fossil sharks; and in the contemporaneous fossil sharks and arthrodires that lived during the Devonian. These structures also differ (morphologically and histologically) when compared to bony fishes. We will discuss what these fossilized skeletal remains can tell us about the habitat, behaviours, and visual capabilities of vertebrates that lived in the oceans millions of years ago.