Filling the gaps for the spine-shaped prepollex in frogs: the carpal anatomy of Centrolenidae and Microhylidae (Chordata: Lissamphibia: Anura)

• Grant number: 21/13764-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Post-doctor
• Start date: June 09, 2022
• End date: December 08, 2022
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Zoology - Morphology of Recent Groups
• Principal Investigator: Taran Grant
• Grantee: Paulo Durães Pereira Pinheiro
• Supervisor: Rafe Brown
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: University of Kansas, United States
• Associated to the scholarship: 18/18473-6 - Study of comparative anatomy and evolution of the prepollical spine in Anura (Chordata: Lissamphibia), BP.PD

Abstract

The prepollex is a carpal element of anurans that exhibits extensive morphological diversity, including development into a conspicuous spine in clades nested within five distantly related families. This spine plays an important role during the reproductive period of territorial species, being used in male-male combat. Variation in prepollical morphology is associated with variation in several muscles connected to distinct forearm skeletal elements; however, the precise relationship between hand muscles and prepollical elements in the clades that exhibit a spinous prepollex is poorly documented, and the character state transformation series that led to similar overall morphologies is unknown. This relationship between hand muscles and bones (and as a consequence, the biomechanical function of the muscles) and the social interactions of anurans together, form an ideal set of characters for evolutionary studies and homology hypotheses on Anura phylogeny. This project aims to study the comparative anatomy of the prepollex in species of Centrolenidade e Microhylidae, focusing on groups with a spine-shaped prepollex and their relatives. The project will focus on the morpho-anatomical differences of the spine-shaped prepollex, aiming to clarify its biomechanical function and evolutionary history in the clades where this important structure is present. The data collected will fill key gaps in the existing dataset, enabling me to achieve the objectives of my post-doctoral research project. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

LURIA-MANZANO, RICARDO; PINHEIRO, PAULO D. P.; KOHLSDORF, TIANA; HADDAD, CELIO F. B.; MARTINS, MARCIO. Evolution of territoriality in Hylinae treefrogs: Ecological and morphological correlates and lineage diversification. JOURNAL OF EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY, v. 36, n. 8, p. 12-pg., 2023-06-15. (20/12658-4, 18/18473-6, 20/10189-7, 21/13764-5)