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Erudaitius AP, Pruett JA, Campos SM, Ossip-Drahos AG, Lannoo SJ, Zúñiga-Vega JJ, Vital-García C, Hews DK, Martins EP, Romero-Diaz C. Vomeronasal organ volume increases with body size and is dissociated with the loss of a visual signal in Sceloporus lizards. J Evol Biol 2024; 37:89-99. [PMID: 38285659 DOI: 10.1093/jeb/voad002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2023] [Revised: 09/15/2023] [Accepted: 09/22/2023] [Indexed: 01/31/2024]
Abstract
Many organisms communicate using signals in different sensory modalities (multicomponent or multimodal). When one signal or component is lost over evolutionary time, it may be indicative of changes in other characteristics of the signalling system, including the sensory organs used to perceive and process signals. Sceloporus lizards predominantly use chemical and visual signals to communicate, yet some species have lost the ancestral ventral colour patch used in male-male agonistic interactions and exhibit increased chemosensory behaviour. Here, we asked whether evolutionary loss of this sexual signal is associated with larger vomeronasal organ (VNO) volumes (an organ that detects chemical scents) compared with species that have retained the colour patch. We measured VNO coronal section areas of 7-8 adult males from each of 11 Sceloporus species (4 that lost and 7 that retained the colour patch), estimated sensory and total epithelium volume, and compared volumes using phylogenetic analysis of covariance, controlling for body size. Contrary to expectations, we found that species retaining the ventral patch had similar relative VNO volumes as did species that had lost the ancestral patch, and that body size explains VNO epithelium volume. Visual signal loss may be sufficiently compensated for by increased chemosensory behaviour, and the allometric pattern may indicate sensory system trade-offs for large-bodied species.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Jake A Pruett
- Department of Biological Sciences, Southeastern Oklahoma State University, Durant, OK, United States
| | | | - Alison G Ossip-Drahos
- Department of Chemistry and Physical Sciences, Marian University, Indianapolis, IN, United States
| | - Susan J Lannoo
- Indiana University School of Medicine-Terre Haute, Terre Haute, IN, USA
| | - J Jaime Zúñiga-Vega
- Departamento de Ecología y Recursos Naturales, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Cuauhcihuatl Vital-García
- Departamento de Ciencias Veterinarias, Instituto de Ciencias Biomédicas, Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez, Ciudad Juárez, Mexico
| | - Diana K Hews
- Department of Biology, Indiana State University, Terre Haute, IN, United States
| | - Emília P Martins
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, United States
| | - Cristina Romero-Diaz
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, United States
- Departamento de Etología, Instituto Cavanilles de Biodiversidad y Biología Evolutiva, Paterna, Valencia, Spain
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Yang C, Wang X, Zhang H, Kou Z, Gao Y, He Y, Liu B. Microscopical observations on the regenerating tail of tsinling dwarf skink (Scincella tsinlingensis). Micron 2022; 154:103215. [PMID: 35051802 DOI: 10.1016/j.micron.2022.103215] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/03/2021] [Revised: 01/11/2022] [Accepted: 01/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Although the key steps of tail regeneration in lizards are well understood, further investigations involving skinks can provide the field of regeneration research with additional information. In order to characterize the cytoarchitecture of tail regeneration in Scincella tsinlingensis, an endemic species in China, its histological events and growth trends are investigated. The rate of tail regeneration varies with the season: it proceeds faster in summer and autumn than it does in winter and spring. Tail regeneration of S. tsinlingensis is summarized as wound healing, blastema formation, cell differentiation and tail growth, which can be subdivided into seven stages. Wound healing following tail loss, begins with an obvious outgrowth undergoing re-epithelialization. Numerous proliferating mesenchymal-like cells aggregate near the distal end of the severed spinal cord to form the blastema. The expanding blastema is invaded by blood vessels, nerves and ependyma. A cartilaginous skeleton is formed around the ependymal tube and the muscle starts to differentiate. The keratinization of epidermis coincides with scale formation. Pigmentation eventually occurs in the regenerated tail. Tail regeneration in S. tsinlingensis is an epimorphic kind of regeneration that is also known as blastema-mediated. Structure and composition of the regenerated tail, including its cytoarchitecture, represent a conserved pattern of regeneration also known from other lizards.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chun Yang
- School of Life Sciences, Shanxi Normal University, No. 339, Taiyu Road, Xiaodian District, Taiyuan, 030031 Shanxi Province, PR China.
| | - Xin Wang
- School of Life Sciences, Shanxi Normal University, No. 339, Taiyu Road, Xiaodian District, Taiyuan, 030031 Shanxi Province, PR China
| | - Huihui Zhang
- School of Life Sciences, Shanxi Normal University, No. 339, Taiyu Road, Xiaodian District, Taiyuan, 030031 Shanxi Province, PR China
| | - Zhaoting Kou
- School of Life Sciences, Shanxi Normal University, No. 339, Taiyu Road, Xiaodian District, Taiyuan, 030031 Shanxi Province, PR China
| | - Yanyan Gao
- School of Life Sciences, Shanxi Normal University, No. 339, Taiyu Road, Xiaodian District, Taiyuan, 030031 Shanxi Province, PR China
| | - Yijie He
- School of Life Sciences, Shanxi Normal University, No. 339, Taiyu Road, Xiaodian District, Taiyuan, 030031 Shanxi Province, PR China
| | - Bo Liu
- Department of Intensive Care Medicine, Hanzhong Central Hospital, Hanzhong, 723000 Shaanxi Province, PR China.
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