These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.


Pubmed for Handhelds

PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS

Search MEDLINE/PubMed

  • Title: Role of development in the evolution of the scapula of the giant sthenurine kangaroos (Macropodidae: Sthenurinae).
    Author: Sears KE.
    Journal: J Morphol; 2005 Aug; 265(2):226-36. PubMed ID: 15977203.
    Abstract:
    Extinct giant sthenurine kangaroos possessed scapulae morphologically distinct from those of all other extant and extinct adult macropodids, but qualitatively resembling those of newborn macropodids. The similarity between adult sthenurine and neonatal macropodid scapulae suggests that a developmental process, such as heterochrony, might have been behind the evolution of the unique sthenurine scapular morphology. By incorporating adult and ontogenetic data, this study examines the evolution and development of the sthenurine scapula. This study quantitatively upholds the previous qualitative morphological observations of macropodid scapulae and finds that ontogenetic and evolutionary morphological changes are correlated in macropodids. The similarity of scapula morphology in sthenurines and newborn macropodids, the correlation between ontogenetic and evolutionary morphological change, and information from other sources (i.e., sthenurine evolutionary history) suggests that pedomorphic shifts in morphology, most likely due to neotenic processes, occurred within the development of the scapula of giant sthenurines.
    [Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]