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From Clinging To Digging: The Postembryonic Skeletal Ontogeny Of The Indian Purple Frog, Nasikabatrachus Sahyadrensis (Anura: Nasikabatrachidae), Gayani Senevirathne, Ashish Thomas, Ryan R. Kerney, James Hanken, S. D. Biju, Madhava Meegaskumbura
From Clinging To Digging: The Postembryonic Skeletal Ontogeny Of The Indian Purple Frog, Nasikabatrachus Sahyadrensis (Anura: Nasikabatrachidae), Gayani Senevirathne, Ashish Thomas, Ryan R. Kerney, James Hanken, S. D. Biju, Madhava Meegaskumbura
Biology Faculty Publications
The Indian Purple frog, Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis, occupies a basal phylogenetic position among neobatrachian anurans and has a very unusual life history. Tadpoles have a large ventral oral sucker, which they use to cling to rocks in torrents, whereas metamorphs possess adaptations for life underground. The developmental changes that underlie these shifts in habits and habitats, and especially the internal remodeling of the cranial and postcranial skeleton, are unknown. Using a nearly complete metamorphic series from free-living larva to metamorph, we describe the postembryonic skeletal ontogeny of this ancient and unique monotypic lineage. The torrent-dwelling larva possesses a dorsoventrally flattened …