Comparative analysis of the anuran pelvic and thigh musculoskeletal system revealed that the thigh extensors, responsible for the initial phase of jump, the propulsive stroke in swimming and, if used asynchronously, also for walking, are least affected by the transformations observed between anurans and their temnospondyl ancestors (as reflected in contemporary caudates). The iliac shaft and urostyle, two of the most important anuran apomorphies, represent skeletal support for muscles that are mostly protractors of the femur or are important in attaining a crouching position, a necessary prerequisite for rapid escape. All of these muscles originate or insert on the iliac shaft. As the orientation of the pubis, ischium and ilium is the same in anurans, caudates and by inference also in their temnospondyl ancestors, it is probable that the pelvis was shifted from the sacral vertebra posteriorly along the reduced and stiffened tail (urostyle) by the elongation of the illiac shaft. Thus, the original vertical orientation of the ilium was maintained (which is also demonstrated by stable origins of the glutaeus maximus, iliofemoralis and iliofibularis on the tuber superius) and the shaft itself is a new structure. A review of functional analysis of anuran locomotion suggests some clear differences from that in caudates, suggesting that terrestrial jumping may have been a primary locomotor activity, from which other types of anuran locomotion are derived.

Department of Paleobiology Geological Institute Academy of Sciences Prague Czech Republic

Zobrazit více v PubMed

Anderson JS, Reisz RR, Scott D, Fröbisch NB, Sumida SS. A stem batrachian from the early Permian of Texas and the origin of frogs and salamanders. Nature. 2008;453:515–518. PubMed

Blanco MJ, Sanchiz B. Evolutionary mechanisms of rib loss in anurans: a comparative developmental approach. J Morphol. 2000;244:57–67. PubMed

Böker H. Einführung in Die Vergleichende Biologische Anatomie der Wirbeltiere. Vol. 1. Jena: Gustav Fischer; 1935.

Boy JA. Die Larven der rhachitomen Amphibien (Amphibia: temnospondyli; Karbon-Trias) Paläont Z. 1974;48:236–268.

Boy JA, Sues H-D. Branchiosaurs: larvae, metamorphosis and heterochrony in temnospondyls and seymouriamorphs. In: Heatwole H, Carroll R, editors. Amphibian Biology – Paleontology. Chipping Norton: Surrey Beatty & Sons; 2000. pp. 1150–1197.

Cannatella DC. A Phylogeny of Primitive Frogs (Archaeobatrachians) Lawrence, Kansas: University of Kansas; 1985. PhD Thesis.

Davies M, Burton TC. Osteology and myology of the Gastric Brooding Frog Rheobatrachus silus Liem (Anura: Leptodactylidae) Austr J Zool. 1982;30:503–521.

van Dijk DE. The ‘tail’ of Ascaphus: a historical résumé and new histological-anatomical details. Ann Univ Stellenbosch. 1955;31A:1–71.

van Dijk DE. On the cloacal region of Anura in particular of larval Ascaphus. Ann Univ Stellenbosch. 1959;35A:169–249.

van Dijk DE. Longitudinal sliding articulations in pipid frogs. S Afr J Sci. 2002;98:555–556.

Dunlap DG. The comparative myology of the pelvic appendage in the Salientia. J Morphol. 1960;106:1–76. PubMed

Eaton TH. The ancestry of modern Amphibia: A review of evidence. Univ Kansas Publ, Mus Nat Hist. 1959;12:155–180.

Edwards JL. The evolution of terrestrial locomotion. In. In: Hecht MK, Goody PC, Hecht BM, editors. Major Patterns in Vertebrate Evolution. New York: Plenum Press; 1977. pp. 553–577.

Emerson SB. Allometry and jumping in frogs: helping the twain to meet. Evolution. 1978;32:551–564. PubMed

Emerson SB. The ilio-sacral articulation in frogs: form and function. Biol J Linn Soc. 1979;11:153–168.

Emerson SB. Frog postcranial morphology: identification of a functional complex. Copeia. 1982;1982:603–613.

Emerson SB, de Jongh HJ. Muscle activity at the ilio-sacral articulation of frogs. J Morphol. 1980;166:129–144. PubMed

Evans SE, Milner AR, Musset F. A discoglossid frog from the Middle Jurassic of England. Palaeontology. 1990;33:299–311.

Francis ETB. The Anatomy of the Salamander. Oxford: Clarendon Press; 1934.

Frost DR, Grant T, Faivovich J, et al. The amphibian tree of life. Bull Am Mus Nat Hist. 2006;297:1–370.

Gadow H. The Evolution of the Vertebral Column. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 1933.

Gans C. A bullfrog and its prey. A look at the biomechanics of jumping. Nat Hist. 1961;52:26–37.

Gans C, Parsons TS. On the origin of the jumping mechanism in frogs. Evolution. 1966;20:92–99. PubMed

Gaupp E. Anatomie des Frosches. I. Lehre vom Skelet und vom Muskelsystem. Braunschweig: Friedrich Vieweg und Sohn; 1896.

Gilbert SG. Pictorial Anatomy of the Necturus. Seattle: University of Washington Press; 1973.

Green TL. On the pelvis of the Anura: a study in adaptation and recapitulation. Proc Zool Soc Lond. 1931;1931:1259–1291.

Griffiths I. The phylogeny of the Salientia. Biol Rev. 1963;38:241–292. PubMed

Grobbelaar CS. Beitrage zu einer Monographie von Xenopus laevis(Daud) Z Anat Entwicklungsgesch (Abt.1) 1924;72:131–168.

Grobbelaar CS. The musculature of the pipid genus Xenopus. S Afr J Sci. 1935;32:395.

Handrigan GR, Wassersug RJ. The anuran Bauplan: a review of the adaptive, developmental, and genetic underpinnings of frog and tadpole morphology. Biol Rev. 2007;82:1–25. PubMed

Hecht MK. A reevaluation of the early history of the frogs. Part I. Syst Zool. 1962;11:39–44.

Hodler F. Untersuchungen über die Entwicklung von Sacralwirbel und Urostyl bei den Anuren. Ein Beitrag zur Deutung des Anuren Amphibientypus. Rev Suisse Zool. 1949;56:747–790.

Hoffmann CK. Amphibien. In: Bronn HG, editor. Klassen und Ordnungen des Thier-Reichs. Leipzig and Heidelberg: Winter; 1873. pp. 1–726. –1878.

Inger RF. On the terrestrial origin of frogs. Copeia. 1962;1962:835–836.

Iordansky NN, Morozov NP. Musculature. In: Kuzmin SL, Ishchenko VG, editors. Siberian Newt (Salamandrella keyserlingii Dybowski, 1870) Moscow: Nauka; 1994. pp. 159–182.

Jenkins FA, Jr, Shubin NH. Prosalirus bitis and the anuran caudopelvic mechanism. J Vert Paleo. 1998;18:495–510.

Limeses CE. La musculatura del muslo en los ceratofrinidos y formas afines. Contrib Científ, Fac Cienc Exact Natural, Univ Buenos Aires, Ser Zool. 1964;1:191–245.

Loeb GE, Gans C. Electromyography for Experimentalists. Chicago: University of Chicago Press; 1986.

Lutz GH, Rome LC. Muscle function during jumping in frogs. I. Sarcomere length change, EMG pattern and jumping performance. Am J Physiol. 1996a;271:C563–C570. PubMed

Lutz GH, Rome LC. Muscle function during jumping in frogs. II. Mechanical properties of muscle: implications for system design. Am J Physiol. 1996b;271:C571–C578. PubMed

MacBride EW. Some recent work on the development of the vertebral column. Biol Rev. 1932;7:108–148.

Manzano A, Abdala V, Herrel A. ) Morphology and function of the forelimb in arboreal frogs: specializations for grasping ability? J Anat. 2008;213:296–307. PubMed PMC

Manzano AS, Barg M. The iliosacral articulation in Pseudinae (Anura: Hylidae) Herpetologica. 2005;61:259–267.

Millard N. The vascular anatomy of Xenopus laevis(Daudin) Trans Roy Soc S Afr. 1941;28:387–439.

Mivart SG. Notes on the myology of Menopoma alleghaniense. Proc Zool Soc Lond. 1869;1869:254–261.

Noble GK. The Phylogeny of the Salientia. Bull Am Mus Nat Hist. 1922;46:1–87.

Noble GK. The Biology of the Amphibia. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co; 1931.

O’Reilly JC, Summers AP, Ritter DA. The evolution of the functional role of trunk muscles during locomotion in adult amphibians. Am Zool. 2000;40:123–135.

Olson JM, Marsh RL. Activation patterns and length changes in hindlimb muscles of the bullfrog Rana catesbeiana during jumping. J Exp Biol. 1998;201:2763–2777. PubMed

Palmer M. Expanded ilio-sacral joint in the toad Xenopus laevis. Nature. 1960;187:797–798. PubMed

Peters SE, Kamel LT, Bashor DP. Hopping and swimming in the leopard frog, Rana pipiens. 1. Step cycles and kinematics. J Morphol. 1996;230:1–16. PubMed

Rage J-C, Roček Z. Redescription of Triadobatrachus massinoti(Piveteau 1936) an anuran amphibian from the Early Triassic. Palaeontographica Abt A. 1989;206:1–16.

Rand AS. Jumping ability of certain anurans, with notes on endurance. Copeia. 1952;1952:15–20.

Rand AS, Rand PJ. The relation of size and distance jumped in Bufo marinus. Herpetologica. 1966;22:206–209.

Reig OA. Los anuros del Matildense. Acta Geol Lilloana. 1957;1:185–297.

Richardson MK, Allen SP, Wright GM, Raynauld A, Hanken J. Somite number and vertebrate evolution. Development. 1998;125:151–160. PubMed

Ritland RM. Studies on the postcranial morphology of Ascaphus truei. II. Myology. J Morphol. 1955;97:215–282.

Roček Z, Rage J-C. Anatomical transformations in transition from temnospondyl to proanuran stages. In: Heatwole H, Carroll R, editors. Amphibian Biology – Paleontology. Chipping Norton: Surrey Beatty & Sons; 2000. pp. 1276–1284.

Ročková H, Roček Z. Development of the pelvis and posterior part of the vertebral column in the Anura. J Anat. 2005;206:17–35. PubMed PMC

Romer AS. Vertebrate Paleontology. Chicago: University of Chicago Press; 1950.

de Sá R, Hillis DA. Phylogenetic relationships of the pipid frogs Xenopus and Silurana: an integration of ribosomal DNA and morphology. Mol Biol Evol. 1990;7:365–376. PubMed

Schmalhausen II. Die Entstehung der Amphibien im Verlauf der Erdgeschichte. Naturwiss Beitr. 1958;9:941–961.

Stokely PS, Barberian JF. On the jumping ability of frogs. Copeia. 1953;1953:187.

Videler JJ, Jorna JT. Functions of the sliding pelvis in Xenopus laevis. Copeia. 1985;1985:254–257.

Walker WF. Vertebrate dissection. 4th Ed. Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders; 1970.

Walthall JC, Ashley-Ross MA. Postcranial myology of the California Newt, Taricha torosa. Anat Rec, Part A. 2006;288A:46–57. PubMed

Whiting HP. Pelvic girdle in amphibian locomotion. Symp Zool Soc Lond. 1961;5:43–57.

Zug GR. Anuran locomotion: Structure and function. I. Preliminary observations on relation between jumping and osteometrics of appendicular and postaxial skeleton. Copeia. 1972;1972:613–624.