Anatomical and histological analyses reveal that tail repair is coupled with regrowth in wild-caught, juvenile American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis).

ABSTRACT: Reptiles are the only amniotes that maintain the capacity to regenerate appendages. This study presents the first anatomical and histological evidence of tail repair with regrowth in an archosaur, the American alligator. The regrown alligator tails constituted approximately 6-18% of the total body length and were morphologically distinct from original tail segments. Gross dissection, radiographs, and magnetic resonance imaging revealed that caudal vertebrae were replaced by a ventrally-positioned, unsegmented endoskeleton. This contrasts with lepidosaurs, where the regenerated tail is radially organized around a central endoskeleton. Furthermore, the regrown alligator tail lacked skeletal muscle and instead consisted of fibrous connective tissue composed of type I and type III collagen fib

SUBMITTER: Xu C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7674433 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature