Skeletal development of Kinosternon scorpioides limbs (Chelonia: Kinosternidae)

Abstract

The morphological study of limbs is important for the understanding of tetrapod biology, where it can be applied to taxonomy and phylogeny, as well ecology and behavior. In this study area, osteogenesis is a subject in Kinosternidae, which has been little researched. The main aim of this study was to characterize the skeletogenesis of Kinosternon scorpioides limbs. Samples were histologically processed, and the embryos were cleared with potassium hydroxide and stained with alcian blue and alizarin red. It was observed that the limbs arose in embryonic Stage 10 as mesenchymal condensate cells. The first stylopodium chondrification centers were noted at Stage 14. Zeugopodium chondrification

Embryonic development of scorpion mud turtle (Kinosternon scorpioides) from captive

“…Some characteristics were found delayed or accelerated in comparison to the findings of Yntema (1968) , for the turtle C. serpentina . In addition, strong evidence from this study supports the hypothesis that the morphological characteristics of the embryonic development of this species, resemble the other chelonians ( Santos Braga et al ., 2021b ), presenting some variations in the appearance and disappearance of structures.…”

“…For Greenbaum (2002) , the morphology of the thoracic limbs is the main criterion for delimiting the stages, as it is easily analyzed until the second half of development, and is highly conserved among most turtles. The tendency in the development of the limbs is that the thoracic ones precede the pelvic ones, an event described in the species ( C. serpentina , P. sinensis , E. subglobosa , M. japonica and K. scorpioides ), or both manifest simultaneously and synchronously ( P. expansa and C. picta ) ( Tokita and Kuratani, 2001 ; Santos Braga et al ., 2021b ).…”

Turtles creep through the pages of The Anatomical Record

“…Adaptations and development of turtle limbs have also been discussed in AR . The normal pattern of skeletogenesis in Kinosternidae (mud and musk turtles) was described, in which chondrification and ossification of the limb elements were identified to embryonic stage (dos Santos Braga et al, 2021). Krahl et al (2019) combined dissection with microcomputed tomography (microCT) and finite element analysis (FEA) to evaluate compressive stress distribution and muscle force vectors in the cheloniid foreflipper.…”