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Skeletal development of the direct-developing caecilian Gegeneophis ramaswamii (Amphibia: Gymnophiona: Caeciliidae)

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Abstract

A few previous studies of skeletal and especially skull development in Gymnophiona often provided contradictory results. We studied the development of the skull and vertebral column of Gegeneophis ramaswamii, a direct-developing Indian caeciliid, based on 13 specimens. The chondrocranium forms at (Brauer in Zool Jahrb Anat 12:477-508,1899) stage 38. First dermal and perichondral ossifications occur at stage 40. The first dermal bones to form are the mentomeckelian, dentary, angular, vomer, and premaxillary. These are followed by the coronoid, palatine, pterygoid, maxillary, and the skull-roofing bones. The last occurring dermal ossifications are the parasphenoid and the squamosal. We present evidence for the occurrence of a lacrimal bone. No ectopterygoid, basioccipital, supraoccipital, pleurosphenoid, postorbital, or supratemporal elements were found. We assess the homology of the bones constituting the caecilian skull and discuss the above-mentioned terminologies. The phylogenetic implications of our findings are briefly discussed and we conclude that the evidence from developmental morphology is at present consistent with a monophyletic Lissamphibia of temnospondyl origin.

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Acknowledgements

The technical assistance of Jutta Zeller, Gabriele Drescher, Vera Heinrich, and Nils Hoff (all Institute of Zoology, Berlin) is gratefully acknowledged. Ulrich Zeller provided resources for laboratory work at the Institute of Zoology, MfN. Peter Olson (London) is thanked for his help with the PC and DCI microscopy. We further wish to thank Ralf Britz, David Gower, Stefan Richter, Rainer Schoch, and Mark Wilkinson and two anonymous reviewers for fruitful discussions and very valuable comments on earlier drafts of the manuscript.

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  1. Institut für Systematische Zoologie, Museum für Naturkunde der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 10099, Berlin, Germany

    Hendrik Müller & Peter Bartsch

  2. Department of Zoology, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Rd, London, SW7 5BD, UK

    Hendrik Müller

  3. Institute of Biology, Leiden University, Kaiserstraat 63, Leiden, 2311 GP, The Netherlands

    Hendrik Müller

  4. Department of Zoology, University of Kerala, Kariavattom, Thiruvananthapuram, India

    Oommen V. Oommen

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Müller, H., Oommen, O.V. & Bartsch, P. Skeletal development of the direct-developing caecilian Gegeneophis ramaswamii (Amphibia: Gymnophiona: Caeciliidae). Zoomorphology 124, 171–188 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00435-005-0005-6

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