Through the looking glass: the spectacle in gymnophthalmid lizards.
The anatomy and development of the eyelids in squamate reptiles are still relatively unknown, considering its variation within the group. The neotropical Gymnophthalmini are traditionally characterized by having lost the eyelids, but their structure is not well described. In this study, the embryonic development and the adult morphology of the gymnophthalmid eye, with special attention to the eyelids, the nictitating membrane, and the spectacle are described. The eye in some Gymnophthalmini is covered by a spectacle, formed by the embryonic fusion of the dorsal and ventral eyelids, a character possibly synapomorphic to the tribe. The genus Tretioscincus, which floats either as sister to all other Gymnophthalmini, or is nested within the group, is unique in showing functional and movable eyelids. Thus, the presence of functional eyelids can be either considered as the primitive condition for the gymnophthalmini or as a re-acquisition of the character, showing the importance of a well-established phylogenetic hypothesis for understanding morphological evolution.
Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de São Paulo, Av. Nazaré, 481, Ipiranga, CEP 04263, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
Ricardo Arturo
RA
Guerra-Fuentes
Juliana G
JG
Roscito
Pedro M Sales
PM
Nunes
Priscilla Rachel
PR
Oliveira-Bastos
Marta Maria
MM
Antoniazzi
Jared
J
Carlos
Miguel Trefaut
MT
Rodrigues
D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D000818:Animals; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005143:Eyelids / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000196:embryology / Q000502:physiology; D008116:Lizards / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000196:embryology / Q000502:physiology; D010802:Phylogeny; D013045:Species Specificity
comparative morphology; eyelids; spectacle