Allometry in the pliocene bivalveAstarte omalii: A new look at an old data set

The relationships between ontogeny and phylogeny have been studied for the bivalve Astarte omaliifrom the Lower, Middle, and Upper Pliocene of Belgium using canonical variates analysis, principal components in the form of multivariate allometry, and bivariate power functions or allometric equations. The results indicate that the three samples represent segments of a single evolutionary lineage which is characterized mainly by paedomorphosis where adult descendants are similar to juvenile ancestors. Recapitulation or peramorphosis is only observed for a single parameter. The Lower and Middle Pliocene samples are considered as Astarte omalii omalii,whereas the Upper Pliocene specimens are placed in A. omalii basteroti.The evolutionary trends most likely reflect changes in the living positions of the bivalves.