Talk:Echidna Development
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Cite this page: Hill, M.A. (2024, April 19) Embryology Echidna Development. Retrieved from https://embryology.med.unsw.edu.au/embryology/index.php/Talk:Echidna_Development |
Nicol SC. (2017). Energy Homeostasis in Monotremes. Front Neurosci , 11, 195. PMID: 28484364 DOI. In 1803, the French anatomist Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire decided that the newly described echidna and platypus should be placed in a separate order, the monotremes, intermediate between reptiles and mammals.
2020
Anthwal N, Fenelon JC, Johnston SD, Renfree MB & Tucker AS. (2020). Transient role of the middle ear as a lower jaw support across mammals. Elife , 9, . PMID: 32600529 DOI.
Transient role of the middle ear as a lower jaw support across mammals
Mammals articulate their jaws using a novel joint between the dentary and squamosal bones. In eutherian mammals, this joint forms in the embryo, supporting feeding and vocalisation from birth. In contrast, marsupials and monotremes exhibit extreme altriciality and are born before the bones of the novel mammalian jaw joint form. These mammals need to rely on other mechanisms to allow them to feed. Here, we show that this vital function is carried out by the earlier developing, cartilaginous incus of the middle ear, abutting the cranial base to form a cranio-mandibular articulation. The nature of this articulation varies between monotremes and marsupials, with juvenile monotremes retaining a double articulation, similar to that of the fossil mammaliaform Morganucodon, while marsupials use a versican-rich matrix to stabilise the jaw against the cranial base. These findings provide novel insight into the evolution of mammals and the changing relationship between the jaw and ear.
Ashwell KWS, Shulruf B & Gurovich Y. (2019). Quantitative Analysis of the Timing of Development of the Cerebellum and Precerebellar Nuclei in Monotremes, Metatherians, Rodents, and Humans. Anat Rec (Hoboken) , , . PMID: 31633884 DOI.
Quantitative Analysis of the Timing of Development of the Cerebellum and Precerebellar Nuclei in Monotremes, Metatherians, Rodents, and Humans
We have used a quantitative statistical approach to compare the pace of development in the cerebellum and precerebellar systems relative to body size in monotremes and metatherians with that in eutherians (rodents and humans). Embryos, fetuses, and early postnatal mammals were scored on whether key structural events had been reached in the development of the cerebellum itself (CC-corpus cerebelli; 10 milestones), or the pontine and inferior olivary precerebellar nuclear groups (PC; 4 milestones). We found that many early cerebellar and precerebellar milestones (e.g., formation of Purkinje cell layer and deep cerebellar nuclei) were reached at a smaller absolute body length in both metatherians and eutherians together, compared to monotremes. Some later milestones (e.g., formation of the external granular layer and primary fissuration) were reached at a smaller body length in metatherians than eutherians. When the analysis was performed with proportional body length expressed as a natural log-transformed ratio of length at birth, milestones were reached at a much smaller proportional body length in rodents and humans than in the metatherians or monotremes. The findings are consistent with the slower pace of metabolic activity and embryonic development in monotremes. They also indicate slightly advanced maturation of some early features of the cerebellum in some metatherians (i.e., early cerebellar development in dasyurids relative to body size), but do not support the notion of an accelerated development of the cerebellum to cope with the demands of early birth. Anat Rec, 2019. © 2019 American Association for Anatomy Anat Rec, 303:1998-2013, 2020. © 2019 American Association for Anatomy.
2015
Observations on fur development in echidna (Monotremata, Mammalia) indicate that spines precede hairs in ontogeny
Anat Rec (Hoboken). 2015 Apr;298(4):761-70. doi: 10.1002/ar.23081. Epub 2014 Nov 13.
Alibardi L1, Rogers G.
Abstract
In the primitive mammal echidna, the initial 2-3 generations of skin appendages produced from birth forms spines and only later true hairs appear. Microscopy on preserved museum specimens reveals that the morphogenesis of spines and hairs is similar but that a larger dermal papilla is formed in spines. The growing shaft comprises a medulla surrounded by a cortex and by an external cuticle. A thick inner root sheath made of cornified cells surrounds the growing shaft inside the spine canal that eventually exits with a pointed tip. Hairs develop later with the same modality of spines but have a smaller papilla and give rise to a fur coat among spines. Therefore the integument of developing echidnas initially produces spines from large dermal papillae but the reduction in size of the papillae later determines the formation of hairs. Although the morphogenesis of spines and hairs can represent a case of specialization in this species, the primitive mammalian characteristics of echidnas has also inspired new speculations on the evolution of the mammalian hair from mammalian-like reptiles with a spiny coat. The resemblance in the morphogenesis between spines and hairs has suggested some hypothesis on hair evolution, in particular that hairs might be derived from the reduction of protective large spines present in ancient mammalian-like reptiles possibly derived from the reduction of pre-existing pointed scales. The hypothesis suggests that spines became reduced and internalized in the skin forming hairs. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. KEYWORDS: echidna; skin; spine development PMID 25367156
2012
Development of the hypothalamus and pituitary in platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) and short-beaked echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus)
J Anat. 2012 Jul;221(1):9-20. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-7580.2012.01508.x. Epub 2012 Apr 18.
Ashwell KW. Source Department of Anatomy, School of Medical Sciences, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia. k.ashwell@unsw.edu.au
Abstract
The living monotremes (platypus and echidnas) are distinguished by the development of their young in a leathery-shelled egg, a low and variable body temperature and a primitive teat-less mammary gland. Their young are hatched in an immature state and must deal with the external environment, with all its challenges of hypothermia and stress, as well as sourcing nutrients from the maternal mammary gland. The Hill and Hubrecht embryological collections have been used to follow the structural development of the monotreme hypothalamus and its connections with the pituitary gland both in the period leading up to hatching and during the lactational phase of development, and to relate this structural maturation to behavioural development. In the incubation phase, development of the hypothalamus proceeds from closure of the anterior neuropore to formation of the lateral hypothalamic zone and putative medial forebrain bundle. Some medial zone hypothalamic nuclei are emerging at the time of hatching, but these are poorly differentiated and periventricular zone nuclei do not appear until the first week of post-hatching life. Differentiation of the pituitary is also incomplete at hatching, epithelial cords do not develop in the pars anterior until the first week, and the hypothalamo-neurohypophyseal tract does not appear until the second week of post-hatching life. In many respects, the structure of the hypothalamus and pituitary of the newly hatched monotreme is similar to that seen in newborn marsupials, suggesting that both groups rely solely on lateral hypothalamic zone nuclei for whatever homeostatic mechanisms they are capable of at birth/hatching. © 2012 The Author. Journal of Anatomy © 2012 Anatomical Society.
PMID 22512474
2011
Monotreme ossification sequences and the riddle of mammalian skeletal development
Evolution. 2011 May;65(5):1323-35. doi: 10.1111/j.1558-5646.2011.01234.x. Epub 2011 Feb 18.
Weisbecker V. Source Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Downing St. CB2 3EQ, Cambridge, United Kingdom. vw248@cam.ac.uk
Abstract
The developmental differences between marsupials, placentals, and monotremes are thought to be reflected in differing patterns of postcranial development and diversity. However, developmental polarities remain obscured by the rarity of monotreme data. Here, I present the first postcranial ossification sequences of the monotreme echidna and platypus, and compare these with published data from other mammals and amniotes. Strikingly, monotreme stylopodia (humerus, femur) ossify after the more distal zeugopodia (radius/ulna, tibia/fibula), resembling only the European mole among all amniotes assessed. European moles also share extreme humeral adaptations to rotation digging and/or swimming with monotremes, suggesting a causal relationship between adaptation and ossification heterochrony. Late femoral ossification with respect to tibia/fibula in monotremes and moles points toward developmental integration of the serially homologous fore- and hindlimb bones. Monotreme cervical ribs and coracoids ossify later than in most amniotes but are similarly timed as homologous ossifications in therians, where they are lost as independent bones. This loss may have been facilitated by a developmental delay of coracoids and cervical ribs at the base of mammals. The monotreme sequence, although highly derived, resembles placentals more than marsupials. Thus, marsupial postcranial development, and potentially related diversity constraints, may not represent the ancestral mammalian condition.
© 2011 The Author(s). Evolution© 2011 The Society for the Study of Evolution.
PMID: 21521190 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21521190
DDX4 (VASA) Is Conserved in Germ Cell Development in Marsupials and Monotremes
Biol Reprod. 2011 Jun 8. [Epub ahead of print]
Hickford DE, Frankenberg S, Pask AJ, Shaw G, Renfree MB.
Abstract
DDX4 (VASA) is an RNA helicase expressed in the germ cells of all animals. To gain greater insight into the role of this gene in mammalian germ cell development we characterized DDX4 in both a marsupial (the tammar wallaby) and a monotreme (the platypus). DDX4 is highly conserved between eutherian, marsupial and monotreme mammals. DDX4 protein is absent from tammar fetal germ cells but is present from Day 1 postpartum in both sexes. The distribution of DDX4 protein during oogenesis and spermatogenesis in the tammar is similar to eutherians. Female tammar germ cells contain DDX4 protein throughout all stages of post-natal oogenesis. In males, DDX4 is in gonocytes and during spermatogenesis it is present in spermatocytes and round spermatids. A similar distribution of DDX4 occurrs in the platypus during spermatogenesis. There are several DDX4 isoforms in the tammar, resulting from both pre- and post-translational modifications. DDX4 in marsupials and monotremes has multiple splice variants and polyadenylation motifs. Using in silico analyses of genomic databases, we found that these previously unreported splice variants also occur in eutherians. In addition, several elements implicated in the control of Ddx4 expression in the mouse, including RGG (arginine-glycine-glycine) and dimethylation of arginine motifs and CpG islands within the Ddx4 promoter, are also highly conserved. Collectively these data suggest that DDX4 is essential for the regulation of germ cell proliferation and differentiation across all three extant mammalian groups--eutherians, marsupials and monotremes.
PMID: 21653890 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21653890
The development of the olfactory organs in newly hatched monotremes and neonate marsupials
J Anat. 2011 Aug;219(2):229-42. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-7580.2011.01393.x. Epub 2011 May 17.
Schneider NY. Source Department of Zoology, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Abstract
Olfactory cues are thought to play a crucial role in the detection of the milk source at birth in mammals. It has been shown that a marsupial, the tammar wallaby, can detect olfactory cues from its mother's pouch at birth. This study investigates whether the main olfactory and accessory olfactory system are similarly well developed in other marsupials and monotremes at birth/hatching as in the tammar. Sections of the head of various marsupial and two monotreme species were investigated by light microscopy. Both olfactory systems were less well developed in the kowari and Eastern quoll. No olfactory or vomeronasal or terminal nerves could be observed; the main olfactory bulb (MOB) had only two layers while no accessory olfactory bulb or ganglion terminale were visible. All other investigated marsupials and monotremes showed further developed olfactory systems with olfactory, vomeronasal and terminal nerves, a three-layered MOB, and in the marsupials a prominent ganglion terminale. The main olfactory system was further developed than the accessory olfactory system in all species investigated. The olfactory systems were the least developed in species in which the mother's birth position removed most of the difficulty in reaching the teat, placing the neonate directly in the pouch. In monotremes they were the furthest developed as Bowman glands were found underlying the main olfactory epithelium. This may reflect the need to locate the milk field each time they drink as they cannot permanently attach to it, unlike therian mammals. While it still needs to be determined how an odour signal could be further processed in the brain, this study suggests that marsupials and monotremes possess well enough developed olfactory systems to be able to detect an odour cue from the mammary area at birth/hatching. It is therefore likely that neonate marsupials and newly hatched monotremes find their way to the milk source using olfactory cues, as has been previously suggested for the marsupial tammar wallaby, rabbits, rats and other eutherians.
© 2011 The Author. Journal of Anatomy © 2011 Anatomical Society of Great Britain and Ireland.
PMID: 21592102 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21592102
2010
Those other mammals: the immunoglobulins and T cell receptors of marsupials and monotremes
Semin Immunol. 2010 Feb;22(1):3-9. Epub 2009 Dec 8.
Miller RD. Source Center for Evolutionary and Theoretical Immunology, Department of Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87110, USA. rdmiller@unm.edu
Abstract
This review summarizes analyses of marsupial and monotreme immunoglobulin and T cell receptor genetics and expression published over the past decade. Analyses of recently completed whole genome sequences from the opossum and the platypus have yielded insight into the evolution of the common antigen receptor systems, as well as discovery of novel receptors that appear to have been lost in eutherian mammals. These species are also useful for investigation of the development of the immune system in organisms notable for giving birth to highly altricial young, as well as the evolution of maternal immunity through comparison of oviparous and viviparous mammals.
(c) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
PMID: 20004116 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20004116
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2009
Somatosens Mot Res. 2012;29(1):13-27. doi: 10.3109/08990220.2012.662185. Epub 2012 Mar 8. Development of the spinal cord and peripheral nervous system in platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) and short-beaked echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus). Ashwell KW1. Author information Abstract The modern monotremes (platypus and echidnas) are characterized by development of their young in a leathery egg that is laid into a nest or abdominal pouch. At hatching, the young are externally immature, with forelimbs capable of digitopalmar prehension, but hindlimbs little advanced beyond limb buds. The embryological collections at the Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin were used to examine the development of the spinal cord and early peripheral nervous system in developing monotremes and to correlate this with known behavioural development. Ventral root outgrowth to the bases of both the fore- and hindlimbs occurs at 6.0 mm crown-rump length (CRL), but invasion of both limbs does not happen until about 8.0-8.5 mm CRL. Differentiation of the ventral horn precedes the dorsal horn during incubation and separate medial and lateral motor columns can be distinguished before hatching. Rexed's laminae begin to appear in the dorsal horn in the first week after hatching, and gracile and cuneate fasciculi emerge during the first two post-hatching months. Qualitative and quantitative comparisons of the structure of the cervicothoracic junction spinal cord in the two monotremes with that in a diprotodont marsupial (the brush-tailed possum, Trichosurus vulpecula) of similar size at birth, did not reveal any significant structural differences between the monotremes and the marsupial. The precocious development of motor systems in the monotreme spinal cord is consistent with the behavioural requirements of the peri-hatching period, that is, rupture of embryonic membranes and egg, and digitopalmar prehension to grasp maternal hair or nest material. PMID: 22401666 DOI: 10.3109/08990220.2012.662185
2007
Assessment of reproductive status in male echidnas
Anim Reprod Sci. 2007 Jan;97(1-2):114-27. Epub 2006 Feb 14.
Johnston SD, Nicolson V, Madden C, Logie S, Pyne M, Roser A, Lisle AT, D'Occhio M. Source School of Animal Studies, The University of Queensland, Gatton, 4343 Qld, Australia. s.johnston1@uq.edu.au
Abstract
This study reports the development and application of techniques to assess the reproductive status of male echidnas. The pattern of testosterone secretion over a 24-h period in five echidnas was documented. Testosterone secretion after injection i.m. of either 1000 IU hCG (n=4) or 4 microg GnRH agonist (n=6) was determined to establish whether this could be used as a practical index of the prevailing steroidogenic capacity of the testes. hCG (1000 IU) was also used to assess seasonal changes in testosterone secretion in six echidnas over a 13-month period. Seasonal changes in testicular volume were examined by transabdominal ultrasonography. Electroejaculation was attempted to monitor seasonal changes in sperm production, which was also determined by spermatorrhea. There was no apparent diurnal pattern of testosterone secretion in echidnas and circulating concentrations of testosterone remained relatively low (maximum 1.2 ng/mL) and stable over 24h. Injection of hCG resulted in an increase (P<0.01; n=4) in testosterone concentration with a peak (2.9+/-0.3 ng/mL) approximately 4h after injection. GnRH also induced an increase (P<0.01; n=6) in circulating testosterone that was apparent after 1h (2.6+/-0.3 ng/mL) and concentrations remained elevated (3.4+/-0.3 ng/mL) for up to 8h after injection. Seasonal changes in testosterone secretion determined after injection of hCG, increased (P=0.03; n=6) from late-autumn, peaked in late-winter, and decreased by early-spring. Testicular volume followed a similar seasonal pattern (P<0.01; n=6) with an increase from late-autumn, peak in winter and a decline in mid-spring. There was no seasonal change in live weight. Electroejaculation was attempted throughout two breeding seasons but no semen was obtained. Spermatorrhoea in the echidna was described for the first time and was subsequently used to assess seasonal sperm production. Spermatozoa were found in the urine from June to September. This study has demonstrated that exogenous hormones can be used to obtain an index of the prevailing steroidogenic capacity of the testes in echidnas, which is not apparent with repetitive non-stimulated samples over 24 h. The assessment of testosterone secretion after injection of trophic hormones provides a valuable and practical procedure for the assessment of reproductive status. Testicular ultrasonography and spermatorrhea are useful in assessing reproductive status and in this study were successfully used to determine seasonal reproduction in captive echidnas.
PMID: 16476529
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