Skeletal and Dental Ontogeny in the Smooth Newt, Triturus vulgaris (Urodela: Salamandridae): Role of Thyroid Hormone in Its Regulation

Sergei V. Smirnov, Anna B. Vassilieva

Abstract


Skeletal and dentitional development was compared in T. vulgaris larvae reared 1) under normal conditions, 2) at high exogenous thyroid hormones (TH) concentrations, 3) in the goitrogen inhibiting the endogenous TH synthesis. Ossification of the axial (vertebral column and associated ribs) and appendicular skeletons (pectoral and pelvic girdles plus associated limbs), proceeding before metamorphosis in controls, is TH-independent. Ossification of the hyobranchial apparatus, proceeding after metamorphosis in controls, is also TH-independent. In the skull, early-appearing bones (coronoid, palatine, dentary, vomer, then — premaxilla, squamosal, angular, pterygoid, parasphenoid, and later – parietal and frontal) and midlarval ones (exoccipital, orbitosphenoid, quadrate, and prootic) are not TH-inducible, though their growth at the midlarval stage may be accelerated by high TH. In contrast, late-appearing bones (maxilla, prefrontal, and nasal) and metamorphic skull remodeling are exclusively TH-inducible. The only postmetamorphic bone, the articular, is TH-independent. In the dentition, the early-larval events are TH-independent, whereas changes associated with metamorphosis (e.g., transition from mono- to bicuspidity) are TH-inducible. As a whole, in the T. vulgaris ontogeny, TH-dependence is low (if ever) at the early-larval stages, increases by the late-larval stage, attains a peak at metamorphosis, and reduces to zero in postmetamorphosis.

Keywords


thyroid hormones (TH); urodele; development; skull; dentition; hyobranchium; limbs; vertebrae

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References


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DOI: https://doi.org/10.30906/1026-2296-2003-10-2-93-110

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