Morphological comparison of five species of poison dart frogs of the genus Ranitomeya (Anura: Dendrobatidae) including the skeleton, the muscle system and inner organs.

ABSTRACT: The morphology of larvae stages of most amphibians are often completely different than in adults. Tadpole descriptions have historically been based on external characters like morphometrics, color pattern and oral disc structure. Other papers described anatomical details by the use of dissections. The increase in micro-CT scanning technology provides an opportunity to quantify and describe in detail internal characters like skeleton, musculature and organs. To date, no such tadpole descriptions exist for the well-studied Neotropical poison dart frog genus Ranitomeya (Anura: Dendrobatidae). Here we provide descriptions of the internal skeletal, musculature and organ structures of five Ranitomeya species and then provide morphological comparisons. Contrary to previous observations, closely r

SUBMITTER: Krings M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5325227 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature