A comparative study of eggshells of Gekkota with morphological, chemical compositional and crystallographic approaches and its evolutionary implications.

ABSTRACT: The Gekkota is an important clade in the evolution of calcified eggshells in that some of its families lay rigid eggshells like archosaurs. However, the fundamental differences and similarities between the mechanism of rigid eggshell formation of the Gekkota and Archosauria have not been investigated thoroughly due to the lack of knowledge of gekkotan eggshells. Here, we report for the first time a comprehensive analysis of morphological, chemical compositional, and crystallographic features of rigid and soft gekkotan eggshells. Exhaustive morphological description provided common characters for gekkotan eggshells, as well as unique features of each species. We found that elemental distribution of rigid gekkotan eggshells is different from that of avian eggshells, especially in the case of

SUBMITTER: Choi S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6014675 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature