| Title: | Evolutionary history of mental glands in turtles reveals a single origin in an aquatic ancestor and recurrent losses independent of macrohabitat |
| Author(s): | Ibanez A; Fritz U; Auer M; Martinez-Silvestre A; Praschag P; Zalugowicz E; Podkowa D; Pabijan M; |
| Address: | "Department of Comparative Anatomy, Institute of Zoology and Biomedical Research, Jagiellonian University, 30-387, Krakow, Poland. alejandro.ibanez@uj.edu.pl. Department of Ecology and Vertebrate Zoology, Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection, University of Lodz, 90-237, Lodz, Poland. alejandro.ibanez@uj.edu.pl. Museum of Zoology, Senckenberg Dresden, 01109, Dresden, Germany. Catalonian Reptile and Amphibian Rehabilitation Center (CRARC), 08783, Masquefa, Spain. Turtle Island, 8054, Graz, Austria. Department of Comparative Anatomy, Institute of Zoology and Biomedical Research, Jagiellonian University, 30-387, Krakow, Poland" |
| DOI: | 10.1038/s41598-021-89520-w |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 2045-2322 (Electronic) 2045-2322 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "Despite the relevance of chemical communication in vertebrates, comparative examinations of macroevolutionary trends in chemical signaling systems are scarce. Many turtle and tortoise species are reliant on chemical signals to communicate in aquatic and terrestrial macrohabitats, and many of these species possess specialized integumentary organs, termed mental glands (MGs), involved in the production of chemosignals. We inferred the evolutionary history of MGs and tested the impact of macrohabitat on their evolution. Inference of ancestral states along a time-calibrated phylogeny revealed a single origin in the ancestor of the subclade Testudinoidea. Thus, MGs represent homologous structures in all descending lineages. We also inferred multiple independent losses of MGs in both terrestrial and aquatic clades. Although MGs first appeared in an aquatic turtle (the testudinoid ancestor), macrohabitat seems to have had little effect on MG presence or absence in descendants. Instead, we find clade-specific evolutionary trends, with some clades showing increased gland size and morphological complexity, whereas others exhibiting reduction or MG loss. In sister clades inhabiting similar ecological niches, contrasting patterns (loss vs. maintenance) may occur. We conclude that the multiple losses of MGs in turtle clades have not been influenced by macrohabitat and that other factors have affected MG evolution" |
| Keywords: | Animal Communication Animals *Biological Evolution Biomechanical Phenomena Ecosystem Integumentary System/anatomy & histology/*physiology Pheromones/biosynthesis/*chemistry Phylogeny Signal Transduction/genetics Turtles/anatomy & histology/*physiology; |
| Notes: | "MedlineIbanez, Alejandro Fritz, Uwe Auer, Markus Martinez-Silvestre, Albert Praschag, Peter Zalugowicz, Emilia Podkowa, Dagmara Pabijan, Maciej eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't England 2021/05/19 Sci Rep. 2021 May 17; 11(1):10396. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-89520-w" |
