Linked Life Data

17371401

Source:http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/id/17371401

Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
2
pubmed:dateCreated
2007-3-20
pubmed:abstractText
The axial skeleton in most anuran families consists of <or=9 presacral vertebrae, a single sacral vertebra, and the urostyle. Tadpoles from one anuran family, the Megophryidae, deviate, however, from this pattern in bearing supernumerary vertebral centra in their tails. At least 5 of 11 genera from this Asian family share this character: Leptobrachella (approximately 30 caudal centra), Leptolalax (5-6), Megophrys (11-15), Ophryophryne (11-14), and Xenophrys (>or=7). Tadpoles from each genus are typically found in streams, where their extended caudal skeleton anchors muscles that facilitate tadpoles wiggling between plant debris and rocks or even burrowing into the stream bed. The extra centra of megophryids ossify differently in each genus. In Leptobrachella and Ophryophryne, the caudal centra ossify around the entire notochord, whereas in Megophrys and Xenophrys each develops from dorsal and ventral pairs of ossifications that expand to meet each other. The evolutionary loss of caudal centra, an apomorphic anuran trait, is reversed in larval megophryids and confirms that the machinery for caudal vertebral development has been retained in some modern anurans. A likely driving force in the reappearance of the trait in megophryids is the selective pressure associated with a riparian lifestyle.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:issn
1520-541X
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
9
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
190-202
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:articleTitle
Bony-tailed tadpoles: the development of supernumerary caudal vertebrae in larval megophryids (Anura).
pubmed:affiliation
Department of Biology, Dalhousie University, 1355 Oxford Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada B3H 4J1. gregory.handrigan@gmail.com
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't