Cosmine

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Cosmine is a spongy, bony material that makes up the

lobe-finned fishes of the class Sarcopterygii. Fish scales that include layers of cosmine are known as cosmoid scales.[1]

Description

As traditionally described,[2] cosmine consists of a layer of dentine covered by a continuous sheet of enamel. Pulp cavities, which secrete dentine tubules, are surrounded by a complex polygonal network of 'pore cavities' which pierce the overlying enamel layer, giving cosmine its characteristic dotted appearance.[3] The pulp cavities and pore chambers are connected by a complex, reticulated pore canal network which continues into a layer of vascular bone beneath the dentine. The exact configuration of the pore canal network and shape of the pore chambers differs between various taxa, although the general organization into a single layer of enamel over dentine with pore canals with vascular bone underneath remains consistent, at least within the Sarcopterygii.[3]

History

Cosmine was first described in the

pedomorphosis. Keith Thomson later analyzed specific growth structures on the cosmine sheet- 'blisters' or 'islands' where cosmine had broken down, and deduced an electroceptive function for the pore chambers. Comparisons with electroceptive organs in extant sarcopterygians, however, have contradicted Thomson's functional hypothesis.[7]

Phylogenetics

New fossils from China have altered current understanding of early fish evolution. Many of these fossils have been identified on the basis of histological characteristics, such as

as opposed to a definitive sarcopterygian trait. The exact phylogenetic significance of cosmine (as classically described) remains unclear.

See also

References

Further reading