{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,17]],"date-time":"2026-02-17T14:10:22Z","timestamp":1771337422885,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":50,"publisher":"Wiley","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,13]],"date-time":"2025-09-13T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1757721600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":12,"URL":"http:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/termsAndConditions#vor"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,1]],"date-time":"2025-09-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1756684800000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/doi.wiley.com\/10.1002\/tdm_license_1.1"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["onlinelibrary.wiley.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Journal of Morphology"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2025,9]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>ABSTRACT<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>\n                    Amphibian testes vary in shape, from multilobed in caecilians and salamanders to compact, ovoid organs in anurans. Although these variations have been studied extensively in amphibians, there has been little investigation into the structural, copulatory, and reproductive behavioral consequences of unpaired testes, a character shared among some amphibians, cyclostomates, and some teleosts. We analyzed the morphology and structure of unpaired testes in\n                    <jats:italic>Pristimantis fetosus<\/jats:italic>\n                    and\n                    <jats:italic>Pristimantis permixtus<\/jats:italic>\n                    . We also report a single testis in\n                    <jats:italic>P. hernandezi<\/jats:italic>\n                    . Our results suggest that the testis arrangement in these species results from the hypertrophy and fusion of two testes rather than the loss or reduction of one testis. Furthermore, the occurrence of germ cells at different stages of development suggests that spermatogenesis is similar to that described for vertebrates, with spermatogonia undergoing mitosis to form spermatocytes, which then undergo meiosis to form spermatids. Like other brachycephaloid frogs,\n                    <jats:italic>Pristimantis<\/jats:italic>\n                    with fused testes exhibit direct development and reproduction on land, but they are the only anurans known to undergo testicular fusion. We propose to recognize the occurrence of fused testes as a unique putative synapomorphy for a new species group distributed in the Colombian Andes, which we refer to as the\n                    <jats:italic>P. hernandezi<\/jats:italic>\n                    species group. A comparative survey among vertebrates reveals no apparent variations in testicular organization, sperm development, or copulative and reproductive behavioral characters associated with the fusion of testes, suggesting that its occurrence might not have functional implications for vertebrate testes. The independently evolved occurrence of fused testes in cyclostomates, teleosts, and amphibians raises an exciting perspective on the study of the molecular origin, evolution, and functional significance of testis variation in vertebrate reproduction and biology.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1002\/jmor.70086","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,13]],"date-time":"2025-09-13T11:34:42Z","timestamp":1757763282000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Fused Testes in Neotropical Frogs of the Genus\n                    <i>Pristimantis<\/i>\n                    (Anura, Craugastoridae): New Insights Into a Poorly Known Character in Vertebrates"],"prefix":"10.1002","volume":"286","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9099-7793","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jhon Jairo","family":"Ospina\u2010Sarria","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Calima, Fundaci\u00f3n para la Investigaci\u00f3n de la Biodiversidad y Conservaci\u00f3n en el Tr\u00f3pico Cali Colombia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5921-6223","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Martha Patricia","family":"Ram\u00edrez\u2010Pinilla","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratorio de Biolog\u00eda Reproductiva de Vertebrados, Escuela de Biolog\u00eda Universidad Industrial de Santander Bucaramanga Colombia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1726-999X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Taran","family":"Grant","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Zoology, Institute of Biosciences University of S\u00e3o Paulo  S\u00e3o Paulo Brazil"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"311","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,13]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_2_9_2_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/ele.13431"},{"key":"e_1_2_9_3_1","first-page":"1","article-title":"A Study of the Urinogenital System of Salientia","volume":"6","author":"Bhaduri J. 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