Specimens of six species (from two genera) of inarticulated craniid brachiopod were dissected and the gut examined and compared. The gut of the five Novocrania Lee & Brunton 2001 species were very similar, except for some variations in the configuration of the pylorus-intestine. The gut of Neoancistrocrania Laurin 1992 had two distinctly different features from Novocrania; the pharynx-esophagus-stomach forms a dorsally directed half loop and the pylorus-intestine is straight. Neoancistrocrania has four unique soft-tissue features and should remain a separate genus from Novocrania.
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Zoological Science
Vol. 31 • No. 8
August 2014
Vol. 31 • No. 8
August 2014
Anatomy
brachiopod
gut
Neoancistrocrania
Novocrania