19
some ancestral jawless fi shes with a cartilagenous gill skeleton. These fi sh, although
not the fi rst vertebrate in history, are the earliest whole vertebrates to be represented
in the fossil record (Wilson 2010 ).
Class Osteichthyes (Higher Bony Fishes)
Fossil representatives of the higher bony fi shes are known from the latest Silurian
period, 418 Ma ago, to the present (Zhu et al. 1999 , 2009 ; Botella et al. 2007 ).
According to the different attachment of their fi ns to the body, this class split into
two main lineages, the Actinopterygii and the Sarcopterygii (lobe-fi ns) (Zhu et al.
2006 ). In Sarcopterygians fi ns can be moved freely in different directions because
they are connected to the body via a single radial bone (Janvier 1996 ; Zhu and
Schultze 1997 ). Nowadays, the lobe-fi ns are represented only by six species of
lungfi shes ( Lepidosiren paradoxa , Neoceratodus forsteri ), and four species of
Protopterus and the famous coelacanth ( Latimeria chalumnae ). These animals were
mostly widespread during the Paleozoic Era. Lobe-fi ns exhibited a greater diversity
than the ray-fi ns during the Devonian and Carboniferous Periods. As active predators
they occupied many of the marine and freshwater habitats. The actinopterygian
lineage (with 26,981 living species) is related to osteichthyes and includes
sturgeons, gars, teleosts and their relatives. The sarcopterygian lineage includes
26,742 living species (Eschmeyer 1990 ; Zhu et al. 2001 ; Zhu and Yu 2002 ; Zhu and
Ahlberg 2004 ; Yu et al. 2010 ).
There is also a great variety of structures known within extant (see for review
Maisey 1996 ) and living bony fi sh, which are of great interest for biological
material scientists, including:
– oral (Fraser et al. 2006 ) and pharyngeal (Carr et al. 2006 ) teeth,
– jaw apparatus (Lauder 1983 ),
– sucking disks (Ritter 2002 ),
– otoliths (Brothers 1984 ),
– epidermal brushes (Geerinck et al. 2007 ),
– dermal denticles (odontodes) (Sire et al. 1998 ),
– armored skin (Lin et al. 2011 ),
– fi ns (Fujita 1990 ),
– wings of fl ying fi sh (Fish 1990 ),
– pelvic spines (Mok and Chang 1986 ) and girdle (Stiassny and Moore 1992 ),
– bones (Patterson and Johnson 1995 ) and interarcual cartilage (Travers 1981 ),
– eyes and tapetum lucidum (Arnott et al. 1970 ),
– gills and bony operculums (Hughes 1972 ),
– swim bladders (Davenport 2005 ),
– unculi (Roberts 1982 ),
– breeding tubercles (Wiley and Collette 1970 ; Kratt and Smith 1978 )
– and hierarchically organized scales made of numerous and unique enamel-like
substances like cosmine and ganoine (see for review Sudo et al. 2002 ; Ortiz and
Boyce 2008 ; Bruet et al. 2008 ; Song et al. 2011 ) (Fig. 1.5 )
1.2 Part I: Biomaterials of Vertebrate Origin. An Overview
some ancestral jawless fi shes with a cartilagenous gill skeleton. These fi sh, although
not the fi rst vertebrate in history, are the earliest whole vertebrates to be represented
in the fossil record (Wilson 2010 ).
Class Osteichthyes (Higher Bony Fishes)
Fossil representatives of the higher bony fi shes are known from the latest Silurian
period, 418 Ma ago, to the present (Zhu et al. 1999 , 2009 ; Botella et al. 2007 ).
According to the different attachment of their fi ns to the body, this class split into
two main lineages, the Actinopterygii and the Sarcopterygii (lobe-fi ns) (Zhu et al.
2006 ). In Sarcopterygians fi ns can be moved freely in different directions because
they are connected to the body via a single radial bone (Janvier 1996 ; Zhu and
Schultze 1997 ). Nowadays, the lobe-fi ns are represented only by six species of
lungfi shes ( Lepidosiren paradoxa , Neoceratodus forsteri ), and four species of
Protopterus and the famous coelacanth ( Latimeria chalumnae ). These animals were
mostly widespread during the Paleozoic Era. Lobe-fi ns exhibited a greater diversity
than the ray-fi ns during the Devonian and Carboniferous Periods. As active predators
they occupied many of the marine and freshwater habitats. The actinopterygian
lineage (with 26,981 living species) is related to osteichthyes and includes
sturgeons, gars, teleosts and their relatives. The sarcopterygian lineage includes
26,742 living species (Eschmeyer 1990 ; Zhu et al. 2001 ; Zhu and Yu 2002 ; Zhu and
Ahlberg 2004 ; Yu et al. 2010 ).
There is also a great variety of structures known within extant (see for review
Maisey 1996 ) and living bony fi sh, which are of great interest for biological
material scientists, including:
– oral (Fraser et al. 2006 ) and pharyngeal (Carr et al. 2006 ) teeth,
– jaw apparatus (Lauder 1983 ),
– sucking disks (Ritter 2002 ),
– otoliths (Brothers 1984 ),
– epidermal brushes (Geerinck et al. 2007 ),
– dermal denticles (odontodes) (Sire et al. 1998 ),
– armored skin (Lin et al. 2011 ),
– fi ns (Fujita 1990 ),
– wings of fl ying fi sh (Fish 1990 ),
– pelvic spines (Mok and Chang 1986 ) and girdle (Stiassny and Moore 1992 ),
– bones (Patterson and Johnson 1995 ) and interarcual cartilage (Travers 1981 ),
– eyes and tapetum lucidum (Arnott et al. 1970 ),
– gills and bony operculums (Hughes 1972 ),
– swim bladders (Davenport 2005 ),
– unculi (Roberts 1982 ),
– breeding tubercles (Wiley and Collette 1970 ; Kratt and Smith 1978 )
– and hierarchically organized scales made of numerous and unique enamel-like
substances like cosmine and ganoine (see for review Sudo et al. 2002 ; Ortiz and
Boyce 2008 ; Bruet et al. 2008 ; Song et al. 2011 ) (Fig. 1.5 )
1.2 Part I: Biomaterials of Vertebrate Origin. An Overview