An insect-like mushroom body in a crustacean brain
Abstract
Mushroom bodies are the iconic learning and memory centers of insects. No previously described crustacean possesses a mushroom body as defined by strict morphological criteria although crustacean centers called hemiellipsoid bodies, which serve functions in sensory integration, have been viewed as evolutionarily convergent with mushroom bodies. Here, using key identifiers to characterize neural arrangements, we demonstrate insect-like mushroom bodies in stomatopod crustaceans (mantis shrimps). More than any other crustacean taxon, mantis shrimps display sophisticated behaviors relating to predation, spatial memory, and visual recognition comparable to those of insects. However, neuroanatomy-based cladistics suggesting close phylogenetic proximity of insects and stomatopod crustaceans conflicts with genomic evidence showing hexapods closely related to simple crustaceans called remipedes. We discuss whether corresponding anatomical phenotypes described here reflect the cerebral morphology of a common ancestor of Pancrustacea or an extraordinary example of convergent evolution.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Sep 26, 2017
- Source ID
- 10.7554/elife.29889
Entities
People
- Gabriella Wolff
- Hanne Halkinrud Thoen
- Justin Marshall
- Marcel E. Sayre
- Nicholas Strausfeld
Organizations
- Air Force Research Laboratory
- Australian Research Council
- University of Arizona
- University of Queensland
- University of Washington