Citation: Böhmer, Christine and Rauhut, Oliver and Wörheide, Gert: Correlation between Hox code and vertebral morphology in archosaurs. December 2013. Open Data LMU. 10.5282/ubm/data.68
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HoxA4 alignment.fas - Supplemental Material 5kB |
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HoxA5 alignment.fas - Supplemental Material 5kB |
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HoxB4 alignment.fas - Supplemental Material 8kB |
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HoxB7 alignment.fas - Supplemental Material 5kB |
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HoxB8 alignment.fas - Supplemental Material 8kB |
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HoxC4 alignment.fas - Supplemental Material 6kB |
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HoxC6 alignment.fas - Supplemental Material 5kB |
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HoxC8 alignment.fas - Supplemental Material 8kB |
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HoxD4 alignment.fas - Supplemental Material 8kB |
DOI: 10.5282/ubm/data.68
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Abstract
The relationship between developmental genes and phenotypic variation is of central interest in evolutionary biology. An excellent example is the role of Hox genes in the anteroposterior regionalization of the vertebral column in vertebrates. Archosaurs (crocodiles, dinosaurs including birds) are highly variable both in vertebral morphology and number. Nevertheless, equivalent Hox genes are active in the axial skeleton during embryonic development, indicating that the morphological variation across taxa is likely due to modifications in the pattern of Hox gene expression. By using geometric morphometrics, we here demonstrate a direct correlation between vertebral Hox code and quantifiable vertebral morphology in modern archosaurs, in which the boundaries between morphological subgroups of vertebrae can be linked to anterior Hox gene expression boundaries. Our findings reveal homologous units of cervical vertebrae in modern archosaurs, each with their specific Hox gene pattern, enabling us to trace these homologies in the extinct sauropodomorph dinosaurs, a group with highly variable vertebral counts. Based on the quantifiable vertebral morphology, this allows us to infer the underlying genetic mechanisms in vertebral evolution in fossils, which represents not only an important case study of evolutionary biology, but will lead to a better understanding of the origin of morphological disparity in recent archosaur vertebral columns.
Keywords
axial skeleton, evolution, sauropodomorph dinosaurs, regulatory genes, phenotypic variation
Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2015.0077
References
Supplementary data from
Böhmer C, Rauhut OWM, Wörheide G. 2015 Correlation between Hox code and vertebral morphology in archosaurs. Proc. R. Soc. B 20150077. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2015.0077
Item Type: | Data |
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Contact Person: | Böhmer, Christine |
E-Mail of Contact: | boehmer at vertevo.de |
Subjects: | Faculty of Geosciences |
Dewey Decimal Classification: | 600 Natural sciences and mathematics 600 Natural sciences and mathematics > 560 Paleontology, Paleozoology |
ID Code: | 68 |
Deposited By: | Dr. Christine Böhmer |
Deposited On: | 16. Jun 2015 11:07 |
Last Modified: | 08. Feb 2021 16:00 |
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