Vertebrate Zoology 70(3): 435-446, doi: 10.26049/VZ70-3-2020-12
Development of the skeleton in the dwarf clawed frog Pseudhymenochirus merlini (Amphibia: Anura: Pipidae)
Mareike Klinger-Strobel, Lennart Olsson‡, Frank Glaw§, Hendrik Mueller|‡ Uni Jena, Jena, Germany§ Zoologische Staatssammlung München (ZSM-SNSB), München, Germany| Martin-Luther-Universität Halle, Halle, Germany
Corresponding author: Hendrik Mueller ( hendrik.mueller@zns.uni-halle.de ) © Mareike Klinger-Strobel, Lennart Olsson, Frank Glaw, Hendrik Mueller. This article is freely available under the J.UCS Open Content License. Citation:
Klinger-Strobel M, Olsson L, Glaw F, Mueller H (2020) Development of the skeleton in the dwarf clawed frog Pseudhymenochirus merlini (Amphibia: Anura: Pipidae). Vertebrate Zoology 70(3): 435-446. https://doi.org/10.26049/VZ70-3-2020-12 |  |
Abstract
In the present study, we investigate the larval development and metamorphic changes of the skeleton of the small, West African pipid frog Pseudhymenochirus merlini Chabanaud, 1920 for the first time . Specimens were cleared and differentially stained for bone and cartilage and the presence or absence of individual bony elements was recorded. Pseudhymenochirus merlini is overall similar in larval morphology and development to its sister taxon Hymenochirus, but shows differences in ossification sequence. Furthermore, Pseudhymenochirus and Hymenochirus differ from other pipids by a reduction of the vertebral column to just six presacral vertebrae. This is apparently the result of a modification of the first two vertebrae and a forward shift of the articulation of the pelvic girdle with the vertebral column by at least one vertebra compared to other pipids. The peculiar skeletal characteristics of Pseudhymenochirus and Hymenochirus do not seem to be a result of miniaturization as often suggested.
Keywords
External gills, metamorphosis, miniaturization, tadpole, vertebral column