Placentation in species of phylogenetic importance: the Afrotheria

Carter, Anthony Michael; Enders, A.C.; Künzle, Heinz; Oduor‐Okelo, D; Vogel, Peter

doi:10.1016/j.anireprosci.2004.04.018

Cited by 26 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…The anatomical structure of most significance to the developing mammalian fetus is the placenta, which develops from fetal extra‐embryonic ectoderm and varies markedly in form and function among eutherians (Mossman, 1987; Carter et al. , 2004; Enders & Carter, 2004).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Placental invasiveness and brain–body allometry in eutherian mammals

Elliot

Crespi

2008

J of Evolutionary Biology

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Brain growth is a key trait in the evolution of mammalian life history. Brain development should be mediated by placentation, which determines patterns of resource transfer from mothers to fetal offspring. Eutherian placentation varies in the extent to which a maternal barrier separates fetal tissues from maternal blood. We demonstrate here that more invasive forms of placentation are associated with substantially steeper brain–body allometry, faster prenatal brain growth and slower prenatal body growth. On the basis of the physiological literature we suggest a simple mechanism for these differences: in species with invasive placentation, where the placenta is bathed directly in maternal blood, fatty acids essential for brain development can be readily extracted by the fetus, but in species with less invasive placentation they must be synthesized by the fetus. Hence, with regard to brain–body allometry and prenatal growth patterns, eutherian mammals are structured into distinct groups differing in placental invasiveness.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Placental invasiveness and brain–body allometry in eutherian mammals

Elliot

Crespi

2008

J of Evolutionary Biology

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“…A movable snout was hypothesized as a synapomorphic trait, but this feature is apparently not homologous across different afrotherian lineages[5]. More recently, it was proposed that aspects of placentation could provide a synapomorphy for this assemblage [6,7]. Some outstanding issues in higher eutherian phylogenomics include the exact root of the placental tree, the relationships within the super-ordinal clade Laurasiatheria (moles, hedgehogs, shrews, bats, cetaceans, ungulates, pangolins and carnivores), and resolving the trichotomy of sirenians, elephants and hyraxes [8].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Chromosome painting in the manatee supports Afrotheria and Paenungulata

et al. 2007

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Background: Sirenia (manatees, dugongs and Stellar's sea cow) have no evolutionary relationship with other marine mammals, despite similarities in adaptations and body shape. Recent phylogenomic results place Sirenia in Afrotheria and with elephants and rock hyraxes in Paenungulata. Sirenia and Hyracoidea are the two afrotherian orders as yet unstudied by comparative molecular cytogenetics. Here we report on the chromosome painting of the Florida manatee.

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“…The hypothesis also predicts that a sustained period of allopatry should be found more Crespi, unpublished data), and it is fully compatible with other recent mammalian trees (see Wildman et al 2006). Placental invasiveness data was taken from Luckett (1974), Gopalakrishna and Karim (1979), Benirschke and Miller (1982), Mossman (1987), King (1993), Rasweiler (1993), Mess (2003), and Carter et al (2004;see also Wildman et al 2006). Placental invasiveness was mapped onto the branches of the tree by maximum likelihood reconstruction using Mesquite (Maddison and Maddison 2005), and the reconstructions correspond very closely with those of Wildman et al (2006).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 82%

Placental Invasiveness Mediates the Evolution of Hybrid Inviability in Mammals

Elliot

Crespi

2006

The American Naturalist

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A central question in evolutionary biology is why animal lineages differ strikingly in rates and patterns of the evolution of reproductive isolation. Here, we show that the maximum genetic distance at which interspecific mammalian pregnancies yield viable neonates is significantly greater in clades with invasive (hemochorial) placentation than in clades with noninvasive (epitheliochorial or endotheliochorial) placentation. Moreover, sister species with invasive placentation exhibit higher allopatry in their geographic ranges, suggesting that formerly separated populations in mammals with this placental type fuse more readily on recontact. These differences are apparently driven by the stronger downregulation of maternal immune responses under invasive placentation, where fetal antigens directly contact the maternal bloodstream. Our results suggest that placental invasiveness mediates a major component of reproductive isolation in mammals.

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Placentation in species of phylogenetic importance: the Afrotheria

Cited by 26 publications

References 34 publications

Placental invasiveness and brain–body allometry in eutherian mammals

Placental invasiveness and brain–body allometry in eutherian mammals

Chromosome painting in the manatee supports Afrotheria and Paenungulata

Placental Invasiveness Mediates the Evolution of Hybrid Inviability in Mammals

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