Heterochronic Developmental Shifts Underlying Squamate Cerebellar Diversity Unveil the Key Features of Amniote Cerebellogenesis.

ABSTRACT: Despite a remarkable conservation of architecture and function, the cerebellum of vertebrates shows extensive variation in morphology, size, and foliation pattern. These features make this brain subdivision a powerful model to investigate the evolutionary developmental mechanisms underlying neuroanatomical complexity both within and between anamniote and amniote species. Here, we fill a major evolutionary gap by characterizing the developing cerebellum in two non-avian reptile species-bearded dragon lizard and African house snake-representative of extreme cerebellar morphologies and neuronal arrangement patterns found in squamates. Our data suggest that developmental strategies regarded as exclusive hallmark of birds and mammals, including transit amplification in an external granule layer

SUBMITTER: Macri S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7642464 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature