Embryonic muscle splitting patterns reveal homologies of amniote forelimb muscles.

ABSTRACT: Limb muscles are remarkably complex and evolutionarily labile. Although their anatomy is of great interest for studies of the evolution of form and function, their homologies among major amniote clades have remained obscure. Studies of adult musculature are inconclusive owing to the highly derived morphology of modern amniote limbs but correspondences become increasingly evident earlier in ontogeny. We followed the embryonic development of forelimb musculature in representatives of six major amniote clades and found, contrary to current consensus, that these early splitting patterns are highly conserved across Amniota. Muscle mass cleavage patterns and topology are highly conserved in reptiles including birds, irrespective of their skeletal modifications: the avian flight apparatus results

SUBMITTER: Smith-Paredes D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9090950 | biostudies-literature | 2022 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature