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Evidence of five digits in embryonic horses and developmental stabilization of tetrapod digit number.


ABSTRACT: Previous work comparing the developmental mechanisms involved in digit reduction in horses with other mammals reported that horses have only a 'single digit', with two flanking metapodials identified as remnants of digit II and IV. Here we show that early Equus embryos go through a stage with five digit condensations, and that the flanking splint metapodials result from fusions of the two anterior digits I and II and the two posterior digits IV and V, in a striking parallel between ontogeny and phylogeny. Given that even this most extreme case of digit reduction exhibits primary pentadactyly, we re-examined the initial stages of digit condensation of all digit-reduced tetrapods where data are available and found that in all cases, five or four digits initiate (four with digit I missing). The persistent pentadactyl initiation in the horse and other digit-reduced modern taxa underscores a durable developmental stability at the initiation of digits. The digit evodevo model may help illuminate the biological circumstances under which organ systems become highly stabilized versus highly plastic.

SUBMITTER: Kavanagh KD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7031666 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Evidence of five digits in embryonic horses and developmental stabilization of tetrapod digit number.

Kavanagh Kathryn D KD   Bailey C Scott CS   Sears Karen E KE  

Proceedings. Biological sciences 20200205 1920


Previous work comparing the developmental mechanisms involved in digit reduction in horses with other mammals reported that horses have only a 'single digit', with two flanking metapodials identified as remnants of digit II and IV. Here we show that early <i>Equus</i> embryos go through a stage with five digit condensations, and that the flanking splint metapodials result from fusions of the two anterior digits I and II and the two posterior digits IV and V, in a striking parallel between ontoge  ...[more]

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