Parental investment by skin feeding in a caecilian amphibian
dc.contributor.author | Kupfer, A. | en_US |
dc.contributor.author | Muller, H. | en_US |
dc.contributor.author | Antoniazzi, M. M. | en_US |
dc.contributor.author | Jared, C. | en_US |
dc.contributor.author | Greven, H. | en_US |
dc.contributor.author | Nussbaum, Ronald A. | en_US |
dc.contributor.author | Wilkinson, Mark | en_US |
dc.date.accessioned | 2009-06-01T17:46:46Z | |
dc.date.available | 2009-06-01T17:46:46Z | |
dc.date.issued | 2006-04-13 | en_US |
dc.identifier.citation | Kupfer, A; Muller, H; Antoniazzi, MM; Jared, C; Greven, H; Nussbaum, RA; Wilkinson, M. (2006) "Parental investment by skin feeding in a caecilian amphibian." Nature 440(7086): 926-929. <http://hdl.handle.net/2027.42/62957> | en_US |
dc.identifier.issn | 0028-0836 | en_US |
dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/2027.42/62957 | |
dc.identifier.uri | http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=retrieve&db=pubmed&list_uids=16612382&dopt=citation | en_US |
dc.description.abstract | Although the initial growth and development of most multicellular animals depends on the provision of yolk, there are many varied contrivances by which animals provide additional or alternative investment in their offspring(1). Providing offspring with additional nutrition should be favoured by natural selection when the consequent increased fitness of the young offsets any corresponding reduction in fecundity(2). Alternative forms of nutrition may allow parents to delay and potentially redirect their investment. Here we report a remarkable form of parental care and mechanism of parent-offspring nutrient transfer in a caecilian amphibian. Boulengerula taitanus is a direct-developing, oviparous caecilian(3), the skin of which is transformed in brooding females to provide a rich supply of nutrients for the developing offspring. Young animals are equipped with a specialized dentition, which they use to peel and eat the outer layer of their mother's modified skin. This new form of parental care provides a plausible intermediate stage in the evolution of viviparity in caecilians. At independence, offspring of viviparous and of oviparous dermatotrophic caecilians are relatively large despite being provided with relatively little yolk. The specialized dentition of skin-feeding (dermatophagous) caecilians may constitute a pre-adaptation to the fetal feeding on the oviduct lining of viviparous caecilians. | en_US |
dc.format.extent | 324550 bytes | |
dc.format.extent | 2489 bytes | |
dc.format.mimetype | application/pdf | |
dc.format.mimetype | text/plain | |
dc.publisher | Nature Publishing Group | en_US |
dc.source | Nature | en_US |
dc.title | Parental investment by skin feeding in a caecilian amphibian | en_US |
dc.type | Article | en_US |
dc.subject.hlbtoplevel | Science | en_US |
dc.description.peerreviewed | Peer Reviewed | en_US |
dc.contributor.affiliationum | Univ Michigan, Museum Zool, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 USA | en_US |
dc.contributor.affiliationum | Univ Michigan, Dept Ecol & Evolut Biol, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 USA | en_US |
dc.contributor.affiliationother | Nat Hist Museum, Dept Zool, London SW7 5BD, England | en_US |
dc.contributor.affiliationother | Leiden Univ, Inst Biol, NL-2311 GP Leiden, Netherlands | en_US |
dc.contributor.affiliationother | Inst Butantan, Lab Biol Celular, BR-05503900 Sao Paulo, Brazil | en_US |
dc.contributor.affiliationother | Univ Dusseldorf, Inst Zoomorphol & Zellbiol, D-40225 Dusseldorf, Germany | en_US |
dc.identifier.pmid | 16612382 | en_US |
dc.description.bitstreamurl | http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/62957/1/nature04403.pdf | |
dc.identifier.doi | http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature04403 | en_US |
dc.identifier.source | Nature | en_US |
dc.contributor.authoremail | mw@bmnh.org | en_US |
dc.owningcollname | Interdisciplinary and Peer-Reviewed |
Files in this item
Remediation of Harmful Language
The University of Michigan Library aims to describe library materials in a way that respects the people and communities who create, use, and are represented in our collections. Report harmful or offensive language in catalog records, finding aids, or elsewhere in our collections anonymously through our metadata feedback form. More information at Remediation of Harmful Language.
Accessibility
If you are unable to use this file in its current format, please select the Contact Us link and we can modify it to make it more accessible to you.