On the occurrence of facultative paedomorphosis in the three newt species of Southern Iberian Peninsula (Amphibia, Salamandridae)
6
Citation
242
Reference
10
Related Paper
Citation Trend
Abstract:
Abstract We report the occurrence of facultative paedomorphosis in the three species of newts (Pleurodeles waltl, Lissotriton boscai and Triturus pygmaeus) from dry and seasonal Mediterranean areas from southern Spain. These are the first records of paedomorphosis for P. waltl and L. boscai, and the second for T. pygmaeus. Other than the previous T. pygmaeus record, these are the first observations of paedomorphosis in the southern half of the Iberian Peninsula. Most of specimens demonstrating paedomorphosis live in artificially permanent aquatic environments. Nevertheless, a paedomorphic individual of L. boscai was found in a natural yearly temporary brook that held water during the previous two years. Paedomorphs are at low frequency in most cases. However, a single isolated population of P. waltl is probably composed entirely of paedomorphs.Keywords:
Neoteny
Salamandridae
Pleurodeles
Triturus
Facultative
Salamandridae
Triturus
Cite
Citations (0)
Salamandridae
Triturus
Cite
Citations (0)
SUMMARY The authors provide a detailed description of the skull in neotenic Triturus vulgaris meridionalis (Boulenger) (Amphibia Caudata Salamandridae) and compare it with the morphology of normal adults. The finds are also compared with published data concerning other urodeles. Though some interesting differences are found between the skull of normal and neotenic individuals, these do not plead in favour of the general hypothesis that neoteny has had a general role in the evolution of urodeles. The authors suggest that at an early stage of urodele evolution, telescoping of developmental phases occurred as an adaptation to short seasons favourable to larval development. The cranial kinesis of Triturus vulgaris is described in detail and this supports the contention by IORDANSKY (1982), contrary to current belief, that cranial kinesis is widespread among urodeles. Some features of cranial changes at metamorphosis appear to be linked with functional requirements.
Neoteny
Salamandridae
Triturus
Morphology
Cite
Citations (12)
The skull of neotenic individuals of the Alpine Newt Triturus alpestris from the locality Drakolimni (Greece) is described on the basis of models made from magnified serial frontal sections. In order to recognize features associated with neoteny and paedomorphosis, the results were compared with normal development of contemporary Triturus and of other Caudata. The neotenic larvae from Greece correspond to advanced stages of metamorphosis in normal development of Triturus alpestris. Comparison with salamandrids from the Tertiary of Europe in which the hyobranchial skeleton was preserved, namely Brachycormus noachicus, Chelotriton paradoxus, and Palaeopleurodeles hauffi, revealed that both latter taxa were completely metamorphosed adults anatomically similar to their contemporary relatives Tylototriton, Echinotriton, and Pleurodeles, whereas Brachycormus, though apparently related to Chelotriton, was a neotenic amphibian. This is suggested by its incompletely metamorphosed but ossified hyobranchial skeleton. © 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Neoteny
Salamandridae
Triturus
Pleurodeles
Heterochrony
Cite
Citations (19)
Comparison of metamorphosis of skull and hyobranchial system in two species of neotenic salamanders reveals two different types of neoteny. Ambystoma talpoideum is completely neotenic owing to delayed metamorphosis. Notophthalmus viridescens exhibits limited neoteny as a result of incomplete metamorphosis. Morphological details of neoteny are compared to life history in both species in order to discuss the ecological morphology of the two neotenic strategies. Comparisons to Taricha granulosa, Triturus vulgaris, and Ambystoma gracile indicate that these two strategies are widely employed and may represent familial patterns.
Neoteny
Salamandridae
Notophthalmus viridescens
Morphology
Cite
Citations (57)
Twelve novel polymorphic microsatellite loci were isolated and characterized for the Iberian ribbed newt, Pleurodeles waltl (Caudata, Salamandridae). The distribution of this newt ranges from central and southern Iberia to northwestern Morocco. Polymorphism of these novel loci was tested in 40 individuals from two Iberian populations and compared with previously published markers. The number of alleles per locus ranged from two to eight. Observed and expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.13 to 0.57 and from 0.21 to 0.64, respectively. Cross-species amplification was tested in Pleurodeles nebulosus , which is listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN. Eight new and seven previously published loci amplified successfully in that species and thus represent a valuable conservation tool. The novel microsatellites will be useful for a better understanding of the population dynamics, demography, genetic structure, and evolutionary history of Pleurodeles waltl and P. nebulosus .
Pleurodeles
Salamandridae
Syndactyly
Salamandra
Cite
Citations (8)
Salamandridae
Triturus
Cite
Citations (0)
The author was partially supported by a Juan de la Cierva-Formacion postdoctoral fellowship from the Spanish Ministerio de Economia, Industria y Competitividad.
Salamandridae
Pleurodeles
Syndactyly
Cite
Citations (0)
Facultative paedomorphosis occurs rarely in the genus Triturus compared to other European newts such as Ichthyosaura alpestris and Lissotriton spp., with most of observation related to single or few individuals per site. In this paper we report about body size, age and population size of two populations of Triturus carnifex with paedomorphs. Since one of the populations consisted of approximately 25% of paedomorphs, this is the first study about a population of large-bodied newts with a conspicuous number of paedomorphic individuals. We found evidences for an ecological causation of paedomorphosis, as well as further support for two recent findings about paedomorphosis: the reduction of sexual size dimorphism and the female-biased sex-ratio within paedomorphs.
Neoteny
Salamandridae
Triturus
Facultative
Sexual dimorphism
Heterochrony
Cite
Citations (0)