{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,30]],"date-time":"2026-04-30T14:18:53Z","timestamp":1777558733716,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":15,"publisher":"Wiley","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2005,2,6]],"date-time":"2005-02-06T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1107648000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":11908,"URL":"http:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/termsAndConditions#vor"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Journal of Morphology"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[1972,7]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title><jats:p>Regional variation in the vertebral column of several species of salamanders (families Ambystomatidae, Salamandridae and Plethodontidae) is analyzed. Measurements of three dimensions, centrum length, prezygapophyseal width, and transverse process length, provide the data. Ontogenetic, interspecific, intergeneric and interfamilial patterns of positional variation are diagrammed and discussed. Distinctive patterns of variation characterize the families, genera, and to a lesser extent, the species. The patterns of ambystomatid salamanders are the most generalized, and probably reflect derivation from a primitive ancestral stock. The most specialized conditions occur in the fully terrestrial plethodontids, a group generally considered to be highly derived. Data such as those presented here will aid in the identification of fossils.<\/jats:p><jats:p>The patterns described have functional significance. For example, species which have an aquatic larval stage and which return to aquatic breeding sites have vertebrae which taper in length and width behind the pelvis. This is a feature associated with production of a traveling wave in the tail which is necessary for propulsion in water. Fully terrestrial species do not have a tapering column. In them, standing waves, such as occur in the trunk region of all species, typically occur in the tail. The caudal vertebrae of terrestrial species are rather uniform in dimensions for some distance, and the tail is cylindrical in form. Other functionally important features include the narrowing and shortening of some anterior vertebrae, associated with the development of a neck in some species with tongue feeding mechanisms. In contrast, species which use their heads as wedges during locomotion have broadened anterior vertebrae which serve as sites of origin for hypertrophied neck muscles.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1002\/jmor.1051370302","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2005,2,24]],"date-time":"2005-02-24T19:47:12Z","timestamp":1109274432000},"page":"257-277","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":34,"title":["Patterns of regional variation in the vertebral column of terrestrial salamanders"],"prefix":"10.1002","volume":"137","author":[{"given":"Richard D.","family":"Worthington","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"David B.","family":"Wake","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"311","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2005,2,6]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_2_1_2_1","first-page":"159","article-title":"The locomotion of fishes","volume":"4","author":"Breder C. M.","year":"1926","journal-title":"Zool."},{"key":"e_1_2_1_3_1","first-page":"245","article-title":"Lateral bending in locomotion of some lower tetrapods","volume":"71","author":"Daan S.","year":"1968","journal-title":"Koninkl. Nederl. Akad. Wetensch. Amsterdam, Proc."},{"key":"e_1_2_1_4_1","first-page":"1","article-title":"Fossil vertebrates from the late Cretaceous Lance Formation, eastern Wyoming","volume":"49","author":"Estes R.","year":"1964","journal-title":"Univ. Califor. Publ. Geol. Sci."},{"key":"e_1_2_1_5_1","first-page":"479","volume-title":"Animal locomotion","author":"Gray J.","year":"1968"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_6_1","first-page":"163","article-title":"Organog\u00e9n\u00e8se de la colonne vert\u00e9brale et des c\u01d2tes chez l'urodele Pleurodeles waltlii Michahelles","volume":"87","author":"Mauger A.","year":"1962","journal-title":"Bull. Soc. Zool. France"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_7_1","first-page":"223","article-title":"Lateral bending in newt locomotion","volume":"67","author":"Roos P. J.","year":"1964","journal-title":"Koninkl. Nederl. Akad. Wetensch. Amsterdam, Proc."},{"key":"e_1_2_1_8_1","first-page":"95","article-title":"Studien zur Entwicklung und Gestalt der Urodelenwirbel","volume":"160","author":"Teege M. J.","year":"1957","journal-title":"Z. wiss. Zool."},{"key":"e_1_2_1_9_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1002\/jmor.1051130106"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_10_1","first-page":"297","article-title":"Preliminary observations on the intervertebral articulations of salamanders","volume":"5","author":"Wake D. B.","year":"1965","journal-title":"Amer. Zool."},{"key":"e_1_2_1_11_1","first-page":"1","article-title":"Comparative osteology and evolution of the lungless salamanders, family Plethodontidae","volume":"4","author":"Wake D. B.","year":"1966","journal-title":"Mem. So. Calif. Acad. Sci."},{"key":"e_1_2_1_12_1","first-page":"33","article-title":"Aspects of vertebral development in the modern Amphibia","volume":"3","author":"Wake D. B.","year":"1970","journal-title":"Forma et Functio"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_13_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1002\/jmor.1051220402"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_14_1","unstructured":"Wake D. B. andR.LawsonUnpublished Developmental and adult morphology of the vertebral column in the plethodontid salamanderEurycea bislineata with comments on vertebral evolution in the Amphibia. Manuscript."},{"key":"e_1_2_1_15_1","unstructured":"Worthington R. D.1968Postmetamorphic changes in the skeletal system ofAmbystoma opacumGravenhorst (Amphibia Caudata). Ph.D. Thesis University of Maryland 223 p."},{"key":"e_1_2_1_16_1","first-page":"1","article-title":"Postmetamorphic changes in the vertebrae of Ambystoma opacum Gravenhorst (Amphibia, Caudata)","volume":"4","author":"Worthington R. D.","year":"1971","journal-title":"Sci. Ser. Univ. Texas El Paso"}],"container-title":["Journal of Morphology"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/api.wiley.com\/onlinelibrary\/tdm\/v1\/articles\/10.1002%2Fjmor.1051370302","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1002\/jmor.1051370302","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2023,11,12]],"date-time":"2023-11-12T10:22:05Z","timestamp":1699784525000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/10.1002\/jmor.1051370302"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[1972,7]]},"references-count":15,"journal-issue":{"issue":"3","published-print":{"date-parts":[[1972,7]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1002\/jmor.1051370302"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/jmor.1051370302","archive":["Portico"],"relation":{},"ISSN":["0362-2525","1097-4687"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0362-2525","type":"print"},{"value":"1097-4687","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[1972,7]]}}}