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Facultative paedomorphosis and the pattern of intra- and interspecific variation in cranial skeleton: lessons from European newts (Ichthyosaura alpestris and Lissotriton vulgaris)

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Abstract

Paedomorphosis, the presence of ancestral larval and juvenile traits that occur at the descendent adult stage, is an evolutionary phenomenon that shaped morphological evolution in many vertebrate lineages, including tailed amphibians. Among salamandrid species, paedomorphic and metamorphic phenotypes can be observed within single populations (facultative paedomorphosis). Despite wide interest in facultative paedomorphosis and polymorphism produced by heterochronic changes (heterochronic polymorphism), the studies that investigate intraspecific morphological variation in facultative paedomorphic species are largely missing. By quantifying the cranium size and development (bone development and remodeling), we investigated the variation at multiple levels (i.e., between sexes, populations and species) of two facultatively paedomorphic European newt species: the alpine and the smooth newt. The pattern of variation between paedomorphs (individuals keeping larval traits at the adult stage) and metamorphs (metamorphosed adult individuals) varied between species and among populations within a single species. The patterns of variation in size and skull formation appear to be more uniform in the alpine than in the smooth newt, indicating that developmental constraints differed between species (more pronounced in alpine than in smooth newt). Our study shows that the cranial skeleton provides detailed insight in the pattern of variation and divergence in heterochronic polymorphism within and between species and open new questions related to heterochronic polymorphism and evolution of cranial skeleton.

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Acknowledgments

We thank two anonymous reviewers for useful comments and suggestions. This work was supported by the Serbian Ministry of Education and Science (Grant No. 173043). MD is a Research Associate at Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique (F.R.S.-FNRS). AI acknowledges financial support from a SyntheSys grant (NL-TAF 3082) and a Naturalis Temminck fellowship, and MD from a F.R.S.-FNRS research grant (J.0008.13) and a Fonds Spéciaux de la Recherche grant from the University of Liège (C-13/03).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Biology, Institute for Zoology, University of Belgrade, Studentski trg 16, 11000, Belgrade, Serbia

    Ana Ivanović & Miloš L. Kalezić

  2. Laboratory of Fish and Amphibian Ethology, Behavioural Biology Unit, University of Liège, 22 Quai van Beneden, 4020, Liège, Belgium

    Mathieu Denoël

  3. Department of Evolutionary Biology, Institute for Biological Research “Siniša Stanković”, University of Belgrade, Bulevar Despota Stefana 142, 11060, Belgrade, Serbia

    Milena Cvijanović, Maja Slijepčević & Miloš L. Kalezić

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  1. Ana Ivanović
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Correspondence to Ana Ivanović.

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Communicated by A. Schmidt-Rhaesa.

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Three-dimensional view of paedomorphic Ichthyosaura alpestris. (MP4 2609 kb)

Three-dimensional view of paedomorphic Lissotriton vulgaris. (MP4 1492 kb)

Supplementary material 3 (DOC 53 kb)

Supplementary material 4 (DOC 84 kb)

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Ivanović, A., Cvijanović, M., Denoël, M. et al. Facultative paedomorphosis and the pattern of intra- and interspecific variation in cranial skeleton: lessons from European newts (Ichthyosaura alpestris and Lissotriton vulgaris). Zoomorphology 133, 99–109 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00435-013-0202-7

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