Dorsal roots are absent from the tail of larval Xenopus.
Dorsal roots are absent from the tails of Xenopus larvae. Sensory afferents instead enter the spinal cord via the ventral roots. After reaching the cord these axons travel diagonally within the lateral fasciculus of the cord to reach the dorsolateral fiber bundle in which they ascend to the hindbrain. Sensory afferents entering together in the same ventral root make this traverse individually rather than as a group, but coalesce again at the ascending tract.
Nordlander
R H
RH
Department of Oral Biology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106.
Awwiller
D M
DM
Cook
H
H
D000818:Animals; D007814:Larva; D009475:Neurons, Afferent / Q000254:growth & development; D013126:Spinal Nerve Roots / Q000166:cytology / Q000254:growth & development*; D013623:Tail / Q000294:innervation*; D014981:Xenopus / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000254:growth & development*