Abstract

QUINZIO, Silvia Inés et al. La morfología de los Anuros: pasado, presente y futuro de nuestras investigaciones. Cuad. herpetol. [online]. 2015, vol.29, n.1, pp.51-67. ISSN 1852-5768.

We review some theoretical and methodological issues about how we study the anuran mor­phology and recognize: 1) scarcely studied subjects with wide generalizations for the whole order; 2) concepts that were losing their meaning and are currently used in a confusing and/or ambiguous ways; 3) topics that were extensively studied from different perspectives (physiology, embryology, ecology) in model organisms providing contradictory or untested assumptions, and 4) studies addressing anatomical systems related to important functions based only on the fully formed apparatus and/or system. We analyzed four examples of our own studies: the or­ganization of the lateral line system, the concepts of size/age/maturity, the relationships among thyroid glands, hormones and metamorphosis, and the interpretations about the evolution of the anuran locomotion, and highlight the need to review some ideas and test them with an updated, methodological and conceptual, approach. Furthermore, we emphasize the validity of studying phenotypic variation to strengthen the hypotheses about animal evolution.

Keywords : Ontogeny; Phenotypic Variation; Concepts; Integration; Evo-Devo.

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