Cranial ontogeny of Thamnophis radix (Serpentes: Colubroidea) with a re-evaluation of current paradigms of snake skull evolution.

ABSTRACT: Accurate knowledge of skeletal ontogeny in extant organisms is crucial in understanding important morpho-functional systems and in enabling inferences of the ontogenetic stage of fossil specimens. However, detailed knowledge of skeletal ontogeny is lacking for most squamates, including snakes. Very few studies have discussed postnatal development in snakes, with none incorporating data from all three major ontogenetic stages-embryonic, juvenile and adult. Here, we provide the first analysis encompassing these three ontogenetic stages for any squamate, using the first complete micro-computed tomography (micro-CT)-based segmentations of any non-adult snake, based on fresh specimens of Thamnophis radix. The most significant ontogenetic changes involve the feeding apparatus, with major

SUBMITTER: Strong CRC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6731736 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature