Meeting Abstract

53.3  Tuesday, Jan. 5  Embryology of the red-backed salamander (Plethodon cinereus) KERNEY, Ryan; Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS ryankerney@gmail.com

The red-backed salamander (Plethodon cinereus) is a locally common species from Northeastern United States and Eastern Canada. Like other members of its genus, P. cinereus is direct developing, and breeds terrestrially. Like other members of its family, P. cinereus is lungless. Together these features make the embryology of P. cinereus a tractable and compelling topic of research. Detailed information on its development can inform our understanding of both life-history evolution and the developmental basis of adult structure loss. This study describes several embryological features of P. cinereus, including an elaboration of the staging series of James Dent (1942), the skeletal changes associated with direct development, and the formation of vestigial lungs in the embryo. Several techniques, including micro-computed tomography, histology, in situ hybridizations and antibody staining, are employed. Together these approaches provide novel data into the evolution and development of plethodontid salamanders.