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Parallel evolution of direct development in frogs – Skin and thyroid gland development in African Squeaker Frogs (Anura: Arthroleptidae: Arthroleptis)

Benjamin Naumann, Susan Schweiger, Jörg U. Hammel, Hendrik Müller
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.09.07.286476
Benjamin Naumann
1Institut für Zoologie und Evolutionsforschung, Erbertstraße 1, 07743 Jena, Germany
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  • For correspondence: benjamin.naumann@uni-jena.de hendrik.mueller@zns.uni-halle.de
Susan Schweiger
1Institut für Zoologie und Evolutionsforschung, Erbertstraße 1, 07743 Jena, Germany
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Jörg U. Hammel
2Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht, Zentrum für Material- und Küstenforschung, Außenstelle am DESY, Gebäude 66, Notkestraße 66, 22607 Hamburg, Germany
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Hendrik Müller
1Institut für Zoologie und Evolutionsforschung, Erbertstraße 1, 07743 Jena, Germany
3Zentralmagazin Naturwissenschaftlicher Sammlungen, Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, Domplatz 4, 06108 Halle (Saale), Germany
4Department of Life Sciences, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, United Kingdom
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  • For correspondence: benjamin.naumann@uni-jena.de hendrik.mueller@zns.uni-halle.de
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Abstract

Cases of parallel evolution offer the possibility to identify adaptive traits and to uncover developmental constraints on the evolutionary trajectories of these traits. The independent evolution of direct development, from the ancestral biphasic life history in frogs is such a case of parallel evolution. In frogs, aquatic larvae (tadpoles) differ profoundly from their adult forms and exhibit a stunning diversity regarding their habitats, morphology and feeding behaviors. The transition from the tadpole to the adult is a climactic, thyroid hormone (TH)-dependent process of profound and fast morphological rearrangement called metamorphosis. One of the organ systems that experiences the most comprehensive metamorphic rearrangements is the skin. Direct-developing frogs lack a free-swimming tadpole and hatch from terrestrial eggs as fully formed froglets. In the few species examined, development is characterized by the condensed and transient formation of some tadpole-specific features and the early formation of adult-specific features during a “cryptic” metamorphosis. In this study we show that skin in direct-developing African squeaker frogs (Arthroleptis) is also repatterned from a tadpole-like to an adult-like histology during a cryptic metamorphosis. This repatterning correlates with an increase of thyroid gland activity. A comparison with data from the Puerto Rican coqui (Eleutherodactylus coqui) reveals that direct development might have evolved in parallel in these frogs by a comparable heterochronic shift of thyroid gland activity. This suggests that the development of many adult-features is still constrained by the ancestral dependency on thyroid hormone signaling.

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

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The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission.
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Posted September 21, 2020.
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Parallel evolution of direct development in frogs – Skin and thyroid gland development in African Squeaker Frogs (Anura: Arthroleptidae: Arthroleptis)
Benjamin Naumann, Susan Schweiger, Jörg U. Hammel, Hendrik Müller
bioRxiv 2020.09.07.286476; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.09.07.286476
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Parallel evolution of direct development in frogs – Skin and thyroid gland development in African Squeaker Frogs (Anura: Arthroleptidae: Arthroleptis)
Benjamin Naumann, Susan Schweiger, Jörg U. Hammel, Hendrik Müller
bioRxiv 2020.09.07.286476; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.09.07.286476

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