High osteological variation in a terrestrial salamander (genus Salamandrina)

Publication date: Available online 22 June 2019Source: Zoologischer AnzeigerAuthor(s): Peter Pogoda, Alexander KupferAbstractMorphological characters underlie diverse intraspecific variation. Investigating this variation on an intra- and interspecific level can help to understand the evolution of traits, body parts and morphological diversification of species. Variation in vertebrae number played a major role in the evolution of urodeles, while other osteological characters are less well investigated. The emerging non-invasive technique of micro-computer tomography (mCT) facilitates studies on osteological anomalies in a comprehensive way. Herein, we examined the intraspecific variation of the vertebral column and phalanges in a terrestrial salamander, genus Salamandrina. The number of trunk vertebrae showed only low variation, but the number of caudo-sacral vertebrae deviated in 40% of individuals of the regular phenotype, whereas phalange counts deviated in 22.5% of the individuals from the modal count.

Source: A Journal of Comparative Zoology - June 24, 2019 Category: Zoology Source Type: research