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Triassic stem caecilian supports dissorophoid origin of living amphibians. Nature 2023; 614:102-107. [PMID: 36697827 PMCID: PMC9892002 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-05646-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2022] [Accepted: 12/12/2022] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
Abstract
Living amphibians (Lissamphibia) include frogs and salamanders (Batrachia) and the limbless worm-like caecilians (Gymnophiona). The estimated Palaeozoic era gymnophionan-batrachian molecular divergence1 suggests a major gap in the record of crown lissamphibians prior to their earliest fossil occurrences in the Triassic period2-6. Recent studies find a monophyletic Batrachia within dissorophoid temnospondyls7-10, but the absence of pre-Jurassic period caecilian fossils11,12 has made their relationships to batrachians and affinities to Palaeozoic tetrapods controversial1,8,13,14. Here we report the geologically oldest stem caecilian-a crown lissamphibian from the Late Triassic epoch of Arizona, USA-extending the caecilian record by around 35 million years. These fossils illuminate the tempo and mode of early caecilian morphological and functional evolution, demonstrating a delayed acquisition of musculoskeletal features associated with fossoriality in living caecilians, including the dual jaw closure mechanism15,16, reduced orbits17 and the tentacular organ18. The provenance of these fossils suggests a Pangaean equatorial origin for caecilians, implying that living caecilian biogeography reflects conserved aspects of caecilian function and physiology19, in combination with vicariance patterns driven by plate tectonics20. These fossils reveal a combination of features that is unique to caecilians alongside features that are shared with batrachian and dissorophoid temnospondyls, providing new and compelling evidence supporting a single origin of living amphibians within dissorophoid temnospondyls.
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2
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Vera Candioti F, Goldberg J, Akmentins MS, Nogueira Costa P, Goulart Taucce PP, Pombal J. Skeleton in the closet: hidden diversity in patterns of cranial and postcranial ontogeny in Neotropical direct-developing frogs (Anura: Brachycephaloidea). ORG DIVERS EVOL 2020. [DOI: 10.1007/s13127-020-00467-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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Bardua C, Felice RN, Watanabe A, Fabre AC, Goswami A. A Practical Guide to Sliding and Surface Semilandmarks in Morphometric Analyses. Integr Org Biol 2019; 1:obz016. [PMID: 33791531 PMCID: PMC7780474 DOI: 10.1093/iob/obz016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Advances in imaging technologies, such as computed tomography (CT) and surface scanning, have facilitated the rapid generation of large datasets of high-resolution three-dimensional (3D) specimen reconstructions in recent years. The wealth of phenotypic information available from these datasets has the potential to inform our understanding of morphological variation and evolution. However, the ever-increasing ease of compiling 3D datasets has created an urgent need for sophisticated methods of capturing high-density shape data that reflect the biological complexity in form. Landmarks often do not take full advantage of the rich shape information available from high-resolution 3D specimen reconstructions, as they are typically restricted to sutures or processes that can be reliably identified across specimens and exclude most of the surface morphology. The development of sliding and surface semilandmark techniques has greatly enhanced the quantification of shape, but their application to diverse datasets can be challenging, especially when dealing with the variable absence of some regions within a structure. Using comprehensive 3D datasets of crania that span the entire clades of birds, squamates and caecilians, we demonstrate methods for capturing morphology across incredibly diverse shapes. We detail many of the difficulties associated with applying semilandmarks to comparable regions across highly disparate structures, and provide solutions to some of these challenges, while considering the consequences of decisions one makes in applying these approaches. Finally, we analyze the benefits of high-density sliding semilandmark approaches over landmark-only studies for capturing shape across diverse organisms and discuss the promise of these approaches for the study of organismal form.
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Affiliation(s)
- C Bardua
- Department of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Rd, Kensington, London, SW7 5BD, UK.,Department of Genetics, Evolution & Environment, University College London, Gower St, Bloomsbury, London, WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - R N Felice
- Centre for Integrative Anatomy, Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University College London, Gower St, Bloomsbury, London, WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - A Watanabe
- Department of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Rd, Kensington, London, SW7 5BD, UK.,Department of Anatomy, New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine, Northern Blvd, Old Westbury, NY 11568, USA.,Division of Paleontology, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY 10024, USA
| | - A-C Fabre
- Department of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Rd, Kensington, London, SW7 5BD, UK
| | - A Goswami
- Department of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Rd, Kensington, London, SW7 5BD, UK.,Department of Genetics, Evolution & Environment, University College London, Gower St, Bloomsbury, London, WC1E 6BT, UK
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4
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Marshall AF, Bardua C, Gower DJ, Wilkinson M, Sherratt E, Goswami A. High-density three-dimensional morphometric analyses support conserved static (intraspecific) modularity in caecilian (Amphibia: Gymnophiona) crania. Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2019. [DOI: 10.1093/biolinnean/blz001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Ashleigh F Marshall
- Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London, UK
- Department of Life Sciences, The Natural History Museum, London, UK
| | - Carla Bardua
- Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London, UK
- Department of Life Sciences, The Natural History Museum, London, UK
| | - David J Gower
- Department of Life Sciences, The Natural History Museum, London, UK
| | - Mark Wilkinson
- Department of Life Sciences, The Natural History Museum, London, UK
| | - Emma Sherratt
- Department of Life Sciences, The Natural History Museum, London, UK
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia
| | - Anjali Goswami
- Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London, UK
- Department of Life Sciences, The Natural History Museum, London, UK
- Department of Earth Sciences, University College London, Gower Street, London, UK
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5
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Bardua C, Wilkinson M, Gower DJ, Sherratt E, Goswami A. Morphological evolution and modularity of the caecilian skull. BMC Evol Biol 2019; 19:30. [PMID: 30669965 PMCID: PMC6343317 DOI: 10.1186/s12862-018-1342-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2018] [Accepted: 12/21/2018] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Caecilians (Gymnophiona) are the least speciose extant lissamphibian order, yet living forms capture approximately 250 million years of evolution since their earliest divergences. This long history is reflected in the broad range of skull morphologies exhibited by this largely fossorial, but developmentally diverse, clade. However, this diversity of form makes quantification of caecilian cranial morphology challenging, with highly variable presence or absence of many structures. Consequently, few studies have examined morphological evolution across caecilians. This extensive variation also raises the question of degree of conservation of cranial modules (semi-autonomous subsets of highly-integrated traits) within this clade, allowing us to assess the importance of modular organisation in shaping morphological evolution. We used an intensive surface geometric morphometric approach to quantify cranial morphological variation across all 32 extant caecilian genera. We defined 16 cranial regions using 53 landmarks and 687 curve and 729 surface sliding semilandmarks. With these unprecedented high-dimensional data, we analysed cranial shape and modularity across caecilians assessing phylogenetic, allometric and ecological influences on cranial evolution, as well as investigating the relationships among integration, evolutionary rate, and morphological disparity. RESULTS We found highest support for a ten-module model, with greater integration of the posterior skull. Phylogenetic signal was significant (Kmult = 0.87, p < 0.01), but stronger in anterior modules, while allometric influences were also significant (R2 = 0.16, p < 0.01), but stronger posteriorly. Reproductive strategy and degree of fossoriality were small but significant influences on cranial morphology (R2 = 0.03-0.05), after phylogenetic (p < 0.03) and multiple-test (p < 0.05) corrections. The quadrate-squamosal 'cheek' module was the fastest evolving module, perhaps due to its pivotal role in the unique dual jaw-closing mechanism of caecilians. Highly integrated modules exhibited both high and low disparities, and no relationship was evident between integration and evolutionary rate. CONCLUSIONS Our high-dimensional approach robustly characterises caecilian cranial evolution and demonstrates that caecilian crania are highly modular and that cranial modules are shaped by differential phylogenetic, allometric, and ecological effects. More broadly, and in contrast to recent studies, this work suggests that there is no simple relationship between integration and evolutionary rate or disparity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carla Bardua
- Department of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum, London, UK. .,Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, UCL, London, UK.
| | - Mark Wilkinson
- Department of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum, London, UK
| | - David J Gower
- Department of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum, London, UK
| | - Emma Sherratt
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia
| | - Anjali Goswami
- Department of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum, London, UK.,Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, UCL, London, UK
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6
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Danto M, Witzmann F, Kamenz SK, Fröbisch NB. How informative is vertebral development for the origin of lissamphibians? J Zool (1987) 2019. [DOI: 10.1111/jzo.12648] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- M. Danto
- Museum für Naturkunde Leibniz‐Institut für Evolutions‐ und Biodiversitätsforschung Berlin Germany
| | - F. Witzmann
- Museum für Naturkunde Leibniz‐Institut für Evolutions‐ und Biodiversitätsforschung Berlin Germany
| | - S. K. Kamenz
- Museum für Naturkunde Leibniz‐Institut für Evolutions‐ und Biodiversitätsforschung Berlin Germany
| | - N. B. Fröbisch
- Museum für Naturkunde Leibniz‐Institut für Evolutions‐ und Biodiversitätsforschung Berlin Germany
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8
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Musculoskeletal development of the Central African caecilian Idiocranium russeli (Amphibia: Gymnophiona: Indotyphlidae) and its bearing on the re-evolution of larvae in caecilian amphibians. ZOOMORPHOLOGY 2018. [DOI: 10.1007/s00435-018-0420-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
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9
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Stem caecilian from the Triassic of Colorado sheds light on the origins of Lissamphibia. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2017. [PMID: 28630337 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1706752114] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The origin of the limbless caecilians remains a lasting question in vertebrate evolution. Molecular phylogenies and morphology support that caecilians are the sister taxon of batrachians (frogs and salamanders), from which they diverged no later than the early Permian. Although recent efforts have discovered new, early members of the batrachian lineage, the record of pre-Cretaceous caecilians is limited to a single species, Eocaecilia micropodia The position of Eocaecilia within tetrapod phylogeny is controversial, as it already acquired the specialized morphology that characterizes modern caecilians by the Jurassic. Here, we report on a small amphibian from the Upper Triassic of Colorado, United States, with a mélange of caecilian synapomorphies and general lissamphibian plesiomorphies. We evaluated its relationships by designing an inclusive phylogenetic analysis that broadly incorporates definitive members of the modern lissamphibian orders and a diversity of extinct temnospondyl amphibians, including stereospondyls. Our results place the taxon confidently within lissamphibians but demonstrate that the diversity of Permian and Triassic stereospondyls also falls within this group. This hypothesis of caecilian origins closes a substantial morphologic and temporal gap and explains the appeal of morphology-based polyphyly hypotheses for the origins of Lissamphibia while reconciling molecular support for the group's monophyly. Stem caecilian morphology reveals a previously unrecognized stepwise acquisition of typical caecilian cranial apomorphies during the Triassic. A major implication is that many Paleozoic total group lissamphibians (i.e., higher temnospondyls, including the stereospondyl subclade) fall within crown Lissamphibia, which must have originated before 315 million years ago.
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10
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Müller H. A parasphenoid is present in caecilian amphibians: a comment on Atkins and Franz-Odendaal. ACTA ZOOL-STOCKHOLM 2015. [DOI: 10.1111/azo.12143] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Hendrik Müller
- Institut für Spezielle Zoologie und Evolutionsbiologie mit Phyle-tischem Museum; Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena; Jena 07743 Germany
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11
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Gower DJ, Kouete MT, Doherty-Bone TM, Ndeme ES, Wilkinson M. Rediscovery, natural history, and conservation status ofIdiocranium russeliParker, 1936 (Amphibia: Gymnophiona: Indotyphlidae). J NAT HIST 2014. [DOI: 10.1080/00222933.2014.939733] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
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San Mauro D, Gower DJ, Müller H, Loader SP, Zardoya R, Nussbaum RA, Wilkinson M. Life-history evolution and mitogenomic phylogeny of caecilian amphibians. Mol Phylogenet Evol 2014; 73:177-89. [PMID: 24480323 DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2014.01.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 63] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2013] [Revised: 01/13/2014] [Accepted: 01/16/2014] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
We analyze mitochondrial genomes to reconstruct a robust phylogenetic framework for caecilian amphibians and use this to investigate life-history evolution within the group. Our study comprises 45 caecilian mitochondrial genomes (19 of them newly reported), representing all families and 27 of 32 currently recognized genera, including some for which molecular data had never been reported. Support for all relationships in the inferred phylogenetic tree is high to maximal, and topology tests reject all investigated alternatives, indicating an exceptionally robust molecular phylogenetic framework of caecilian evolution consistent with current morphology-based supraspecific classification. We used the mitogenomic phylogenetic framework to infer ancestral character states and to assess correlation among three life-history traits (free-living larvae, viviparity, specialized pre-adult or vernal teeth), each of which occurs only in some caecilian species. Our results provide evidence that an ancestor of the Seychelles caecilians abandoned direct development and re-evolved a free-living larval stage. This study yields insights into the concurrent evolution of direct development and of vernal teeth in an ancestor of Teresomata that likely gave rise to skin-feeding (maternal dermatophagy) behavior and subsequently enabled evolution of viviparity, with skin feeding possibly a homologous precursor of oviduct feeding in viviparous caecilians.
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Affiliation(s)
- Diego San Mauro
- Department of Life Sciences, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, United Kingdom.
| | - David J Gower
- Department of Life Sciences, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, United Kingdom
| | - Hendrik Müller
- Institut für Spezielle Zoologie und Evolutionsbiologie mit Phyletischem Museum, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Erbertstrasse 1, 07743 Jena, Germany
| | - Simon P Loader
- University of Basel, Biogeography Research Group, Department of Environmental Sciences, Basel 4056, Switzerland
| | - Rafael Zardoya
- Departamento de Biodiversidad y Biología Evolutiva, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales - CSIC, José Gutiérrez Abascal 2, 28006 Madrid, Spain
| | - Ronald A Nussbaum
- Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan, 1109 Geddes Ave., Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1079, United States
| | - Mark Wilkinson
- Department of Life Sciences, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, United Kingdom
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14
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Harrington SM, Harrison LB, Sheil CA. Ossification sequence heterochrony among amphibians. Evol Dev 2013; 15:344-64. [DOI: 10.1111/ede.12043] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Sean M. Harrington
- Department of Biology; John Carroll University, University Heights; Ohio 44118 USA
| | - Luke B. Harrison
- Redpath Museum; McGill University; 859 Sherbrooke Street West Montreal QC, Canada H3A 2K6
| | - Christopher A. Sheil
- Department of Biology; John Carroll University, University Heights; Ohio 44118 USA
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Alcalde L, Basso NG. Old and new hypotheses about the homology of the compound bones from the cheek and otico-occipital regions of the anuran skull. ZOOLOGY 2013; 116:232-45. [DOI: 10.1016/j.zool.2013.03.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2012] [Revised: 02/01/2013] [Accepted: 03/20/2013] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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16
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Kemp A. Cartilage, bone, and intermandibular connective tissue in the Australian lungfish, Neoceratodus forsteri (Osteichthyes: Dipnoi). J Morphol 2013; 274:1085-9. [PMID: 23801584 DOI: 10.1002/jmor.20164] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2013] [Revised: 04/21/2013] [Accepted: 04/26/2013] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
The connective tissue that links the bones of the mandible in the Australian lungfish, Neoceratodus forsteri, has been described as an intermandibular cartilage, and as such has been considered important for phylogenetic analyses among lower vertebrates. However, light and electron microscopy of developing lungfish jaws demonstrates that the intermandibular tissue, like the connective tissue that links the bones of the upper jaw, contains fibroblasts and numerous bundles of collagen fibrils, extending from the trabeculae of the bones supporting the tooth plates. It differs significantly in structure and in staining reactions from the cartilage and the bone found in this species. In common with the cladistian Polypterus and with actinopterygians and some amphibians, lungfish have no intermandibular cartilage. The connective tissue linking the mandibular bones has no phylogenetic significance for systematic grouping of lungfish, as it is present in a range of different groups among lower vertebrates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anne Kemp
- Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith University, 170 Kessels Road, Nathan, Brisbane, Queensland, 4111, Australia
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17
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Meza-joya FL, Ramos-pallares EP, RamÍrez-pinilla MP. Ontogeny of the Vertebral Column ofEleutherodactylus johnstonei(Anura: Eleutherodactylidae) Reveals Heterochronies Relative to Metamorphic Frogs. Anat Rec (Hoboken) 2013; 296:1019-30. [DOI: 10.1002/ar.22705] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2012] [Accepted: 03/21/2013] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Fabio Leonardo Meza-joya
- Colección Herpetológica y Laboratorio de Biología Reproductiva de Vertebrados; Grupo de Estudios en Biodiversidad, Escuela de Biología, Universidad Industrial de Santander; A.A. 678, Cra 27 calle 9 Bucaramanga Colombia
| | - Eliana Patricia Ramos-pallares
- Colección Herpetológica y Laboratorio de Biología Reproductiva de Vertebrados; Grupo de Estudios en Biodiversidad, Escuela de Biología, Universidad Industrial de Santander; A.A. 678, Cra 27 calle 9 Bucaramanga Colombia
| | - Martha Patricia RamÍrez-pinilla
- Colección Herpetológica y Laboratorio de Biología Reproductiva de Vertebrados; Grupo de Estudios en Biodiversidad, Escuela de Biología, Universidad Industrial de Santander; A.A. 678, Cra 27 calle 9 Bucaramanga Colombia
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Kerney R. Embryonic Staging Table for a Direct-Developing Salamander, Plethodon cinereus (Plethodontidae). Anat Rec (Hoboken) 2011; 294:1796-808. [DOI: 10.1002/ar.21480] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2011] [Accepted: 08/02/2011] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
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Gower DJ, Mauro DS, Giri V, Bhatta G, Govindappa V, Kotharambath R, Oommen OV, Fatih FA, Mackenzie-Dodds JA, Nussbaum RA, Biju S, Shouche YS, Wilkinson M. Molecular systematics of caeciliid caecilians (Amphibia: Gymnophiona) of the Western Ghats, India. Mol Phylogenet Evol 2011; 59:698-707. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2011.03.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2010] [Revised: 02/28/2011] [Accepted: 03/02/2011] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
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21
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Maddin HC, Olori JC, Anderson JS. A redescription of Carrolla craddocki (Lepospondyli: Brachystelechidae) based on high-resolution CT, and the impacts of miniaturization and fossoriality on morphology. J Morphol 2011; 272:722-43. [DOI: 10.1002/jmor.10946] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2010] [Revised: 11/26/2010] [Accepted: 12/05/2010] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
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22
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Developmental Characters in Phylogenetic Inference and Their Absolute Timing Information. Syst Biol 2011; 60:630-44. [DOI: 10.1093/sysbio/syr024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
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23
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Pérez OD, Lai NB, Buckley D, del Pino EM, Wake MH. The morphology of prehatching embryos ofCaecilia orientalis(Amphibia: Gymnophiona: Caeciliidae). J Morphol 2009; 270:1492-502. [DOI: 10.1002/jmor.10772] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
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MÜLLER HENDRIK, WILKINSON MARK, LOADER SIMONP, WIRKNER CHRISTIANS, GOWER DAVIDJ. Morphology and function of the head in foetal and juvenile Scolecomorphus kirkii (Amphibia: Gymnophiona: Scolecomorphidae). Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2009. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1095-8312.2008.01152.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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Beyo RS, Divya L, Oommen OV, Akbarsha MA. Accumulation of yolk in a caecilian (Gegeneophis ramaswamii) oocyte: a light and transmission electron microscopic study. J Morphol 2008; 269:1412-24. [PMID: 18777571 DOI: 10.1002/jmor.10670] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
There is a paucity of information on the female reproductive biology of the caecilian amphibians when compared with the other vertebrate groups. Hence, the accumulation of nutrient reserves in the form of yolk and formation of yolk platelets were studied in Gegeneophis ramaswamii, adopting light microscopic histological and transmission electron microscopy analysis. Previtellogenic as well as vitellogenic follicles were observed in appropriate preparations. On the basis of the source and the routes of entry, we identified four types of yolk precursor materials, precursors 1 to 4. The earliest material appearing in the oocyte consists of abundant lipid vesicles during the previtellogenic phase, i.e., much before the follicular epithelium is fully established. This is a contribution from the oocyte mitochondria, which we identified as yolk precursor material 1, and it is autosynthetic. Once the follicle cell-oocyte interface is fully established, there is an accumulation of the principal component of the heterosynthetic yolk by sequestration from the blood through the intercellular spaces between follicle cells in a pinocytic process. This we identified as yolk precursor material 2. There was also an indication of a lipidic yolk material synthesis in the follicle cells sequestered from maternal blood through the follicle cells in an endocytic process in which the macrovilli of follicle cells and the microvilli of the oocyte play a role. This we identified as yolk precursor material 3. Contribution to the yolk of peptidic, glycosidic, and/or lipidic material synthesized in the vitellogenic oocyte was also indicated. This we identified as yolk precursor material 4. The sequential development of intercellular associations and indications of synthesis/sequestration of the yolk have been traced. Thus, we report the mechanistic details of synthesis/sequestration of the yolk materials in a caecilian.
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Affiliation(s)
- Reston S Beyo
- Department of Zoology, University of Kerala, Kariavattom, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala 695581, India
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GOWER DJ, GIRI V, DHARNE MS, SHOUCHE YS. Frequency of independent origins of viviparity among caecilians (Gymnophiona): evidence from the first ‘live-bearing’ Asian amphibian. J Evol Biol 2008; 21:1220-6. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1420-9101.2008.01577.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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Abstract
In vertebrates, the ontogeny of the bony skull forms a particularly complex part of embryonic development. Although this area used to be restricted to neontology, recent discoveries of fossil ontogenies provide an additional source of data. One of the most detailed ossification sequences is known from Permo-Carboniferous amphibians, the branchiosaurids. These temnospondyls form a near-perfect link between the piscine osteichthyans and the various clades of extant tetrapods, retaining a full complement of dermal bones in the skull. For the first time, the broader evolutionary significance of these event sequences is analyzed, focusing on the identification of sequence heterochronies. A set of 120 event pairs was analyzed by event pair cracking, which helped identify active movers. A cladistic analysis of the event pair data was also carried out, highlighting some shared patterns between widely divergent clades of tetrapods. The analyses revealed an unexpected degree of similarity between the widely divergent taxa. Most interesting is the apparently modular composition of the cranial sequence: five clusters of bones were discovered in each of which the elements form in the same time window: (1) jaw bones, (2) marginal palatal elements, (3) circumorbital bones, (4) skull roof elements, and (5) neurocranial ossifications. In the studied taxa, these "modules" have in most cases been shifted fore and back on the trajectory relative to the Amia sequence, but did not disintegrate. Such "modules" might indicate a high degree of evolutionary limitation (constraint).
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Affiliation(s)
- Rainer R Schoch
- Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Stuttgart, Rosenstein 1, D-70191 Stuttgart, Germany.
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Kupfer A, Müller H, Antoniazzi MM, Jared C, Greven H, Nussbaum RA, Wilkinson M. Parental investment by skin feeding in a caecilian amphibian. Nature 2006; 440:926-9. [PMID: 16612382 DOI: 10.1038/nature04403] [Citation(s) in RCA: 97] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2005] [Accepted: 11/07/2005] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Although the initial growth and development of most multicellular animals depends on the provision of yolk, there are many varied contrivances by which animals provide additional or alternative investment in their offspring. Providing offspring with additional nutrition should be favoured by natural selection when the consequent increased fitness of the young offsets any corresponding reduction in fecundity. Alternative forms of nutrition may allow parents to delay and potentially redirect their investment. Here we report a remarkable form of parental care and mechanism of parent-offspring nutrient transfer in a caecilian amphibian. Boulengerula taitanus is a direct-developing, oviparous caecilian, the skin of which is transformed in brooding females to provide a rich supply of nutrients for the developing offspring. Young animals are equipped with a specialized dentition, which they use to peel and eat the outer layer of their mother's modified skin. This new form of parental care provides a plausible intermediate stage in the evolution of viviparity in caecilians. At independence, offspring of viviparous and of oviparous dermatotrophic caecilians are relatively large despite being provided with relatively little yolk. The specialized dentition of skin-feeding (dermatophagous) caecilians may constitute a preadaptation to the fetal feeding on the oviduct lining of viviparous caecilians.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander Kupfer
- Department of Zoology, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK
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30
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Müller H. Ontogeny of the skull, lower jaw, and hyobranchial skeleton ofHypogeophis rostratus (Amphibia: Gymnophiona: Caeciliidae) revisited. J Morphol 2006; 267:968-86. [PMID: 16700055 DOI: 10.1002/jmor.10454] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Few detailed descriptions of the development of the head skeleton in caecilian amphibians are available. One of those is the work of Marcus and students (e.g., Gehwolf [1923] Z Anat Entwick 68:433-454; Marcus [1933] Anat Anz 80:142-146; Marcus et al. [1935] Gegenbaurs Morphol Jb 76:375-420) on the morphology and development of the skull, lower jaw, and hyobranchial skeleton in the Seychellean caeciliids Hypogeophis rostratus and Grandisonia alternans. These workers described a high number of individual ossifications that fuse during ontogeny to form the adult skull. Although later studies have doubted the generality of those observations, the work of Marcus and his students has been hugely influential in subsequent studies of caecilian skull morphology and amphibian evolution. Based on new observations on an ontogenetic series of 32 sectioned and cleared and stained specimens, ranging from the beginning of chondrification to the adult, the development of the skull, lower jaw, and hyobranchial skeleton of H. rostratus are described. The new results are largely incompatible with those of Marcus and students and no evidence for several of the reported ossifications, including supra-, infra-, and basioccipital, epiotic, pleurosphenoid, preethmoid, posterior vomer, prepalatine, quadratojugal, postparietal, second coronoid, supraangular, and complementare, is found. It is argued that most of Marcus et al.'s reports of nonexistent ossifications are based on false phylogenetic preconception, misinterpretation of the observed morphology, and technical error. Data on the ossification sequence of the skull and lower jaw in H. rostratus are provided and briefly compared to published information on Dermophis mexicanus and Gegeneophis ramaswamii.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hendrik Müller
- Department of Zoology, The Natural History Museum, London, UK.
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31
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Kleinteich T, Haas A. Cranial musculature in the larva of the caecilian,Ichthyophis kohtaoensis (Lissamphibia: Gymnophiona). J Morphol 2006; 268:74-88. [PMID: 17154285 DOI: 10.1002/jmor.10503] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
Within the Gymnophiona (caecilians) oviparous species with biphasic life-cycles possess a free living semi-aquatic larval stage that feeds in aquatic habitats. The larvae pass through a metamorphosis to a purely terrestrial adult stage. It is likely that the cranial morphology of caecilian larvae has specializations for aquatic feeding. However, little is known about the cranial morphology, and the cranial musculature is especially neglected in the literature. This study provides a detailed description of the jaw and hyobranchial musculature in larval stages of a caecilian. We studied late embryonic and early larval specimens of Ichthyophis kohtaoensis. Furthermore, we compared and homologized the cranial muscles found in larval I. kohtaoensis with the muscles described for adult caecilians. Most cranial muscles of larval I. kohtaoensis are also present in the adult, except for the m. levator mandibulae externus and the m. subarcualis obliquus II. Our results were compared with the data available for larval frogs and salamanders in order to hypothesize the cranial musculature in the larva of the most recent common ancestor of the Lissamphibia. Larval caecilians, frog tadpoles, and salamander larvae share many characters in their cranial musculature, which, consequently, can be assigned to the lissamphibian ground pattern. However, the m. pterygoideus and the m. levator quadrati are unique to the Gymnophiona.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas Kleinteich
- Institut für Spezielle Zoologie und Evolutionsbiologie, Friedrich Schiller Universität Jena, Erbertstrasse 1, 07743 Jena, Germany.
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