Book Description

Paleontology and Neontology of Cephalopods examines information that throws new light on the evolution of coleoids. This book is part of a multivolume work, The Mollusca, which attempts to provide comprehensive treatment of major areas of molluscan research. The Mollusca is intended to serve several disciplines—zoology, biochemistry, physiology, and paleontology. It will prove useful to researchers and to all others with interests in mollusks. The book begins with a review of the main features of cephalopod evolution. This is followed by separate chapters on the evolution of the gladius in coleoids; the buccal mass of Cephalopoda; beaks of living coleoid Cephalopoda; cephalopod hooks; statoliths of cephalopods; buoyancy and locomotion in recent cephalopods; and evolution of the cephalopod brain and cephalopod statocyst. Subsequent chapters deal with the photophore structure and evolution within the Enoploteuthinae; the interrelationships of genera within the Ommastrephidae; evolutionary pathways traversed by the cephalopod family Cranchiidae; the cephalopod fauna of the European Mediterranean; and the evolution of recent cephalopods.