Animation showing evolution of trap-jaw

The animation shows the changes in form as the trap-jaw mechanism becomes more divergent from the ancestral form. The jaws (yellow) develop small projections that can latch onto the labrum (purple). The labrum changes from functioning as a sensor in the ancestral gripping jaw to acting as a latch in the trap-jaw. The muscles in the head that control the jaw and the labrum undergo large changes in structure.

The animation shows the changes in form as the trap-jaw mechanism becomes more divergent from the ancestral form. The jaws (yellow) develop small projections that can latch onto the labrum (purple). The labrum changes from functioning as a sensor in the ancestral gripping jaw to acting as a latch in the trap-jaw. The muscles in the head that control the jaw and the labrum undergo large changes in structure.

Date:

02 March 2021

Creator:

danielle-ellenby

Credit:

Reproduced with permission from "Functional innovation promotes diversification of form in the evolution of an ultrafast trap-jaw mechanism in ants." by Booher DB et al. (2021). PLOS Biology, CC-BY

Copyright OIST (Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, 沖縄科学技術大学院大学). Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).

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