Dean Mason N, Summers Adam P
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California - Irvine, 321 Steinhaus Hall, Irvine, CA 92697-2525, USA.
Zoology (Jena). 2006;109(2):164-8. doi: 10.1016/j.zool.2006.03.002. Epub 2006 Apr 11.
The cartilaginous endoskeleton of chondrichthyan fishes (sharks, rays, and chimaeras) exhibits complex arrangements and morphologies of calcified tissues that vary with age, species, feeding behavior, and location in the body. Understanding of the development, evolutionary history and function of these tissue types has been hampered by the lack of a unifying terminology. In order to facilitate reciprocal illumination between disparate fields with convergent interests, we present levels of organization in which crystal orientation/size delimits three calcification types (areolar, globular, and prismatic) that interact in two distinct skeletal types, vertebral and tessellated cartilage. The tessellated skeleton is composed of small blocks (tesserae) of calcified cartilage (both prismatic and globular) overlying a core of unmineralized cartilage, while vertebral cartilage usually contains all three types of calcification.
软骨鱼类（鲨鱼、鳐鱼和银鲛）的软骨内骨骼展现出钙化组织的复杂排列和形态，这些钙化组织会随年龄、物种、摄食行为以及在体内的位置而变化。由于缺乏统一的术语，对这些组织类型的发育、进化历史和功能的理解受到了阻碍。为了促进具有共同兴趣的不同领域之间的相互启发，我们提出了组织层次，其中晶体取向/大小界定了三种钙化类型（蜂窝状、球状和棱柱状），它们在两种不同的骨骼类型——椎体软骨和棋盘状软骨中相互作用。棋盘状骨骼由覆盖在未矿化软骨核心之上的钙化软骨小方块（嵌片）组成，这些小方块既有棱柱状的也有球状的，而椎体软骨通常包含所有三种钙化类型。
