The Mechanical Constraints in Mollusc Constructions

the Function of the Shell, the Musculature, and the

Connective Tissue
KARL EDLINGER 1

Summary

The basic mollusc types and their development are presented as case studies for
the reconstruction of phylogeny according to the principles of constructional
morphology. It is shown that the sequence of transformation steps leading to
solengastres constructions and several conchiferous types and the bifurcation in
diverging lineages of the conchiferans are clearly constrained and determined by
biomechanical principles and the energy converting capabilities of primitive mol-
luscs.

1 Introduction

The application of the strict principles of biomechanics could have a strong im-
pact on the understanding of morphology and the reconstruction of phylogeny.
However, biomechanics in the sense of mechanical coherence and the hydraulic
principle would have to be based on a theoretical concept of constructional mor-
phology and would be required to be consistent with the law of conservation of
energy.
Animals must be conceived as energy-converting systems (Fig. 1). They func-
tion by a step-by-step transformation and transduction of chemical energy, re-
ceived from their input of matter, into a mechanical form of energy. The mechani-
cal energy is transferred into the environment by motoric deformations of the or-
ganismic machine. The energy transduction process of living systems needs useful
and highly ordered organismic, molecular, cytological, and histological structures
and a morphological machinery which can work without difficulties for the effi-
ciency of the organismic whole. A minimum of the energy is allowed to be set free
by unrestrained dissipation, the restraints being provided by the morphological
organization. In the mechanical framework of the organisms the contractile ele-
ments, which are working in an antagonistic way against a fluid-filling or skeletal
structure, force energy into well-organized channels and over directing structures
finally into the environment.

1 BaseJer Gasse 39, A-1232 Wien, Austria

N. Schmidt-Kittler and K. Vogel (Eds):

Constructional Morphology and Evolution
© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 1991
360 K. Edlinger