Evolution and development of the bird chondrocranium.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Birds exhibit an enormous diversity in adult skull shape (disparity), while their embryonic chondrocrania are considered to be conserved across species. However, there may be chondrocranial features that are diagnostic for bird clades or for Aves as a whole. We synthesized and analyzed information on the sequence of chondrification of 23 elements in ten bird species and five outgroups. Moreover, we critically considered the developmental morphology of the chondrocrania of 21 bird species and examined whether the diversity in adult skull shape is reflected in the development of the embryonic skull, and whether there are group-specific developmental patterns.

Results

We found that chondrocranial morphology is largely uniform in its major features, with some variatio

SUBMITTER: Huppi E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8082637 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature