Embryological Development of Caiman latirostris (Crocodylia: Alligatoridae)

JOSEfiNA IUNGMAN, CARLOS I. PIN˜A, AND PABLO SIROSKI

GENESIS (NEW YORK, N.Y. : 2000)

WILEY-LISS, DIV JOHN WILEY & SONS INC

Lugar: New York, USA; Año: 2008 vol. 46 p. 401 - 417

1526-954X

Summary: A standard development embryological series is the primary basis to organize information of any embryological study and is also used to determine the age of eggs and embryos in field conditions. In this article, we calibrate developmental series of the broad-snouted caiman, Caiman latirostris , against an established series for Alligator Mississippiensis. Morphometric measures and extend of the opaque-shell bandingwere also related to embryo age. In earlier stages, external morphological features alone can account for embryo age, but we suggest that morphometricmeasurements should be introduced later in the development.Unlike morphologic and morphometric attributes, the opaque patchwas not a useful age predictor. As expected, a close correlation between embryonic development of C. latirostris and A. mississippiensis was observed.