Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Scheyer TM
PROVIDER: S-EPMC6917493 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Nov
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
eLife 20191127
The number of precaudal vertebrae in all extant crocodylians is remarkably conservative, with nine cervicals, 15 dorsals and two sacrals, a pattern present also in their closest extinct relatives. The consistent vertebral count indicates a tight control of axial patterning by <i>Hox</i> genes during development. Here we report on a deviation from this pattern based on an associated skeleton of the giant caimanine <i>Purussaurus</i>, a member of crown Crocodylia, and several other specimens from ...[more]