Analysis of vestigial skeletal structures within eight species of lizard of the families scincidae and pygopodidae
Abstract
The reduction and loss of limbs within the skeletal girdle has been illustrated within several species within the taxon Squamata. Until the present study, the species studied here with reduced or no external limbs remained unexamined for the presence of internal vestigial limbs. Here I describe the vestigial nature of the limbs of the following eight lizard species: Brachymeles bonitae (B. bonitae), Brachymeles gracilis (B. gracilis), Brachymeles talinis (B. talinis), Brachymeles tridactylus (B. tridactylus), Delma australis (D. australis), Delma borea (D. borea), Feylinia grandisquamis (F. grandisquamis), and Lialis jicari (L jicari). All the appendicular skeletons of these species were previously undescribed. Internal vestigial limbs, in the absence of external limbs, were present in half of the species examined, including D. australis, D. borea, F. grandisquamis, L. jicari . Within the species of Brachymeles, B. bonitae and B. tridactylus had vestigial limbs including both greatly reduced forelimbs and hind limbs to the point of decreased functionality. The remaining two species, B. gracilis and B. talinis, included fully developed appendicular skeletons and were used as a means of comparison. These findings will potentially contribute to the existing body of knowledge on vestigial limbs in lizards.
Subject Area
Biology|Evolution and Development|Zoology
Recommended Citation
Andrade, Julia Beatrice, "Analysis of vestigial skeletal structures within eight species of lizard of the families scincidae and pygopodidae" (2015). ETD Collection for Fayetteville State University. AAI1581855.
https://digitalcommons.uncfsu.edu/dissertations/AAI1581855