Models and tests in functional morphology: The significance of description and integration

SYNOPSIS: Functional-anatomical work on complex structural systems is handicapped by several difficulties: (1) Lack of established guidelines on how to select the structures that are relevant for the intended study, (2) lack of methods to check the accuracy of the description of a system\u27s morphology, and (3) the need to integrate a large mass of results obtained through a variety of approaches taken from different disciplines, such as anatomy, physiology, physics, biochemistry, ecology and evolutionary biology. Suggestions to alleviate some of the problems include (1) to use information on the physiological and physical properties of the tissues in a system and on biomechanical principles governing the interactions among these tissues to help in the selection and checking process necessary during the morphological description, (2) to construct a structural model of the system by condensing the morphological description, (3) to construct a functional model on the basisof the structural model by using physiological, physical and biomechanical principles that govern the functioning and interactions of the tissues and elements of the system, and (4) to test the functional model through independent observations, experiments or natural experiments (i.e., individual variations). © 1988 by the American Society of Zoologists

The avian lingual and laryngeal apparatus within the context of the head and jaw apparatus, with comparisons to the mammalian condition: Functional morphology and biomechanics of evaporative cooling, feeding, drinking, and vocalization

© Springer International Publishing AG 2017. All rights reserved. The lingual and laryngeal apparatus are the mobile and active organs within the oral cavity, which serves as a gateway to the respiratory and alimentary systems in terrestrial vertebrates. Both organs play multiple roles in alimentation and vocalization besides respiration, but their structures and functions differ fundamentally in birds and mammals, just as the skull and jaws differ fundamentally in these two vertebrate classes. Furthermore, the movements of the lingual and laryngeal apparatus are interdependent with each other and with themovements of the jaw apparatus in complex and littleunderstood ways. Therefore, rather than updating the existing numerous reviews of the diversity in lingual morphology of birds, this chapter will concentrate on the functionalmorphological interdependences and interactions of the lingual and laryngeal apparatus with each other and with the skull and jaw apparatus. It Will

The role of the specific, profilaggrin-containing keratohyalin granules in the developing epidermis of the fetal horse hoof

The adult equine hoof is subdivided into distinct segments with various keratinization modes. In the periople and bulbs of the heel, the epidermis forms a Stratum granulosum with basophilic keratohyalin granules during soft keratinization, whereas in the coronet, wall proper, sole, and frog, the epidermis undergoes hard keratinization by keratinizing and comifying without forming keratohyalin granules. The present study tests the hypothesis that the presence of specific (profilaggrin-containing) keratohyalin granules in the hoof epidermis is correlated with the water-binding capacity and mechanical properties of the hoof horn. To identify these specific profilaggrin-containing keratohyalin granules, tissue samples of fetal hooves were studied with histochemistry, immunohistochemistry, and transmission electron microscopy. In a fetal hoof, a Stratum granulosum is formed in all hoof segments in the wake of the establishment of a segment-specific papillary body, but at differing developmental stages, starting in the coronet, then in the wall proper, and later in the sole and frog, and disappearing again in the same sequence. In the terminal part of the wall proper (i.e., Zona alba), the Stratum granu/osum is retained at least until three days after birth. In the periople and bulbs of the heel, the Stratum granulosum appears last (and is retained in the adult) when the other segments have not yet completely lost theirs. The basophilic granules in the Stratum granulosum are specific profilaggrin-containing granules that were also described in the human skin. These observations are relevant for a better understanding of certain dyskeratotic processes in the hoof epidermis

Development and Evolution of the Amniote Integument: Current Landscape and Future Horizon

This special issue on the development and evolution of the amniote integument begins with a discussion of the adaptations to terrestrial conditions, the acquisition of water-impermeability by the reptilian integument, and the initial formation of filamentous integumentary appendages that pave the way towards avian flight. Recent feather fossils are reviewed and a definition of feathers is developed. Hierarchical models are proposed for the formation of complex structures, such as feathers. Molecular signals that alter the phenotype of integumentary appendages at different levels of the hierarchy are presented. Tissue interactions and the roles of keratins in evolution are discussed and linked to their bio-mechanical properties. The role of mechanical forces on patterning is explored. Elaborate extant feather variants are introduced. The regeneration/gene mis-expression protocol for the chicken feather is established as a testable model for the study of biological structures. The adaptations of the mammalian distal limb end organs to terrestrial, arboreal and aquatic conditions are discussed. The development and cycling of hair are reviewed from a molecular perspective. These contributions reveal that the structure and function of diverse integumentary appendages are variations superimposed on a common theme, and that their formation is modular, hierarchical, and cyclical. They further reveal that these mechanisms can be understood at the molecular level, and that an integrative and organismal approach to studying integumentary appendages is needed. We propose that future research should foster interdisciplinary approaches, pursue understanding at the cellular and molecular level, analyze interactions between the environment and genome, and recognize the contributions of variation in morphogenesis and evolution. © 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc

Do geese fully develop brood patches? A histological analysis of lesser snow geese (Chen caerulescens caerulescens) and Ross\u27s geese (C. rossii)

Most birds develop brood patches before incubation; epidermis and dermis in the brood patch region thicken, and the dermal connective tissue becomes increasingly vascularized and infiltrated by leukocytes. However, current dogma states that waterfowl incubate without modifications of skin within the brood patch region. The incubation periods of lesser snow geese (Chen caerulescens caerulescens; hereafter called snow geese) and Ross\u27s geese (C. rossii) are 2-6 days shorter than those of other goose species; only females incubate. Thus, we hypothesized that such short incubation periods would require fully developed brood patches for sufficient heat transfer from incubating parents to eggs. We tested this hypothesis by analyzing the skin histology of abdominal regions of snow and Ross\u27s geese collected at Karrak Lake, Nunavut, Canada. For female snow geese, we found that epidermis and dermis had thickened and vascularization of dermis was 14 times greater, on average, than that observed in males (n=5 pairs). Our results for Ross\u27s geese (n=5 pairs) were more variable, wherein only one of five female Ross\u27s geese fully developed a brood patch. Our results are consistent with three hypotheses about brood patch development and its relationship with different energetic cost-benefit relationships, resulting from differences in embryonic development and body size. © Springer-Verlag 2006

Functional Microanatomy of the Feather-Bearing Integument: Implications for the Evolution of Birds and Avian Flight

A selective regime favoring a streamlining of body contours and surfaces is proposed as having been instrumental in driving the morphological and functional transformations of an unfeathered reptilian integument into a featherbearing avian one. This hypothesis is consistent with a new, structurally and functionally coherent analysis of the microanatomy of the avian feather-bearing integument as a complex, integrated organ system that includes an intricate, hydraulic skeleto-muscular apparatus of the feathers, a dermo-subcutaneous muscle system of the integument, and a subcutaneous hydraulic skeletal system formed by fat bodies. Key elements of the evidence supporting the new hypothesis are (1) the presence of depressor feather muscles that are not needed as antagonists for the erector feather muscles, but can counteract external forces, such as air currents; (2) the fact that the highly intricate feather-bearing integument represents a machinery to move feathers or to stabilize them against external forces; (3) the crucial role of the coat of feathers in streamlining the body contours and surfaces of birds; (4) the aerodynamic role of feathers as pressure and turbulence sensors and as controllable temporary turbulators; and (5) the critical role that a streamlined body plays in avian flight and is likely to have played in the evolutionary transformations from ecologically and locomotorily versatile quadrupedal reptiles to volant bipedal birds without passing through parachuting or gliding stages. These transformations are likely to have occurred more than once. The ancestral birds were probably small, arboreal, hopping, and using flap-bounding, or intermittent bounding, flight