Integration,heterochrony, and adaptation in pedal digits of syndactylous marsupials |
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Authors: | Vera Weisbecker Maria Nilsson |
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Institution: | 1.School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences,University of New South Wales, UNSW,Sydney,Australia;2.Department of Cell and Organism Biology, Genetics, Division of Evolutionary Molecular Systematics,Lund University,S?lvegatan 29,Sweden |
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Abstract: | Background Marsupial syndactyly is a curious morphology of the foot found in all species of diprotodontian and peramelemorph marsupials.
It is traditionally defined as a condition in which digits II and III of the foot are bound by skin and are reduced. Past
treatments of marsupial syndactyly have not considered the implications of this unique morphology for broader issues of digit
development and evolution, and the ongoing debate regarding its phylogenetic meaning lacks a broad empirical basis. This study
undertakes the first interdisciplinary characterisation of syndactyly, using variance/covariance matrix comparisons of morphometric
measurements, locomotor indices, ossification sequences, and re-assessment of the largely anecdotal data on the phylogenetic
distribution of tarsal/metatarsal articulations and "incipient syndactyly". |
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