Book ChapterDOI
The Evolution of the Tongue of Snakes, and its Bearing on Snake Origins
S. B. Mcdowell
- pp 191-273
TLDR
The form and texture of the tongue has long been one of the major bases for the classification of lizards, as evidenced by such herpetological catalogues as de Rooij (1915) that base the “synopsis of families” principally on the tongue.Abstract:
The form and texture of the tongue has long been one of the major bases for the classification of lizards, as evidenced by such herpetological catalogues as de Rooij (1915) that base the “synopsis of families” principally on the tongue, and by the “-gjossa” names for higher groups of lizards in the older literature (e.g., Pachyglossa, Leptoglossa, Thecaglossa, Diploglossa, all used by Cope, 1900, but taken by him from earlier authors). I can find no case where a lizard was referred to a particular group on the basis of tongue structure but subsequently found, from other evidence, to be unrelated. On the other hand, in two cases families of lizards have been referred to higher groups against the evidence of the tongue, and subsequent study of the osteology has shown such reference to be in error: the Pygopodidae were referred by Camp (1923) to the same group as that containing Anguidae, Xenosauridae, Anniellidae, Helodermatidae, and Varani-dae, in spite of a very different tongue; but McDowell and Bogert (1954) and Underwood (1957) showed that the Pygopodidae are most closely related to the Gekkonidae, with which they agree in tongue structure as well as many other features.read more
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
Evolutionary aspects of tail shedding in lizards and their relatives
TL;DR: It is argued that loss of caudal autotomy has occurred when the costs of tail shedding outweigh its benefits and likely costs include the expense of re...
Journal ArticleDOI
Convergent evolution and character correlation in burrowing reptiles: towards a resolution of squamate relationships
TL;DR: The affinities of three problematic groups of elongate, burrowing reptiles (ampshisbaenians, dibamids and snakes) are reassessed through a phylogenetic analysis of all the major groups of squamates, including the important fossil taxa Sineoamphisbaena, mosasauroids and Pachyrhachis; 230 phylogenetically informative osteological characters were evaluated in 22 taxa.
Journal ArticleDOI
Evolution of the structure and function of the vertebrate tongue
TL;DR: A review of Tongues of various extant vertebrates, including those of amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals, were analysed in terms of gross anatomy and microanatomy and by scanning and transmission electron microscopy to examine the fundamental importance of morphology in the evolution of the vertebrate tongue.
Journal ArticleDOI
Chemical discrimination by tongue-flicking in lizards: A review with hypotheses on its origin and its ecological and phylogenetic relationships
TL;DR: The advent of tongue-flicking to sample prey chemicals and thus detect hidden prey may have allowed generalist or ambush foragers to become specialists in active foraging, which in turn appears to have profoundly influenced the further evolution of squamate chemosensory structures and behavior.
References
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Book
The development of the vertebrate skull
TL;DR: A vast amount of work has been done since on the skull, and no one has made more important contributions than Dr. R. de Beer himself, whose series of detailed studies on the development of the head and skull in various vertebrates from cyclostome to mammal, published from 1922 onwards form the basis for this fine monograph illustrated by 143 plates.