Journal of Morphology

Virtual Issues

Fetal Nutritional Adaptations

Read the introduction chapter here

Edited by J. Matthias Starck and Daniel G. Blackburn

In many viviparous vertebrates, pregnant females sustain their developing embryos and provide them with nutrients by means of placentas and a diversity of other types of specializations. With this paper, we introduce a virtual (online) issue of the Journal of Morphology that presents 12 recent papers on fetal maintenance in viviparous vertebrates. We also outline the history of research in this area and document the central role of morphology in helping to explain the function and evolution of specializations for fetal nutrition. This virtual issue of the Journal of Morphology is an outgrowth of a symposium held under auspices of the International Congress of Vertebrate Morphology. The included papers reflect a diversity of taxa, research methods, and biological issues. To celebrate the publication of this virtual issue of the Journal of Morphology, the publisher is making freely available to readers a number of other relevant papers published in the journal over the past 128 years.

Evolution of vertebrate viviparity and specializations for fetal nutrition: A quantitative and qualitative analysis
Daniel G. Blackburn
21 March 2014

Invasive implantation and intimate placental associations in a placentotrophic African lizard, Trachylepis ivensi (scincidae)
Daniel G. Blackburn and Alexander F. Flemming
Volume 273, Issue 2, February 2012, pp. 137-159

Conservation of placentation during the tertiary radiation of mammals in South America
Anthony Michael Carter and Andrea Maria Mess
Volume 274, Issue 5, May 2013, pp. 557-569

The placentation of eulipotyphla—reconstructing a morphotype of the mammalian placenta
Kirsten Ferner, Swetlana Siniza and Ulrich Zeller
Volume 275, Issue 10, October 2014, pp. 1122-1144

Uterine epithelial cell changes during pregnancy in a marsupial (Sminthopsis crassicaudata; Dasyuridae)
Melanie K. Laird, Michael B. Thompson, Christopher R. Murphy and Bronwyn M. McAllan
Volume 275, Issue 10, October 2014, pp. 1081–1092

Uterine and chorioallantoic angiogenesis and changes in the uterine epithelium during gestation in the viviparous lizard, niveoscincus conventryi (squamata: scincidae)
Martha Patricia Ramírez-Pinilla, Scott L. Parker, Christopher R. Murphy and Michael B. Thompson
Volume 273, Issue 1, January 2012, pp. 8-23

Structure and function of placental exchange surfaces in goodeid fishes (Teleostei: Atheriniformes)
Joachim F. Schindler
2 May 2014

Fetal nutrition in lecithotrophic squamate reptiles: Toward a comprehensive model for evolution of viviparity and placentation
James R. Stewart
Volume 274, Issue 7, July 2013, pp. 824–843

Development of yolk sac and chorioallantoic membranes in the Lord Howe Island skink, Oligosoma lichenigerum
James R. Stewart, Kylie J. Russell and Michael B. Thompson
Volume 273, Issue 10, October 2012, pp. 1163–1184

Placental development and expression of calcium transporting proteins in the extraembryonic membranes of a placentotrophic lizard
Haley K. Stinnett, James R. Stewart, Tom W. Ecay, Rebecca A. Pyles, Jacquie F. Herbert and Michael B. Thompson
Volume 273, Issue 3, March 2012, pp. 347–359

Branchial placenta in the viviparous teleost Ilyodon whitei (Goodeidae)
Mari Carmen Uribe, Gabino De la Rosa-Cruz and Adriana García-Alarcón
Volume 275, Issue 12, December 2014, pp. 1406–1417

Fetal adaptations for viviparity in amphibians
Marvalee H. Wake
19 March 2014

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Embryonic Development: in Honor of Hamburger and Hamilton

Edited by J. Matthias Starck

HH Stages 38 and 39

Developmental biology and research in evo-devo relies on precise determination of embryonic stages. In 1951, Viktor Hamburger and Howard Hamilton published in the Journal of Morphology (J. Morphol. 88:49-92) a series of 46 chronological stages in chick development, starting from laying of the egg and ending with a newly hatched chick (now known as the HH stages). The Hamburger-Hamilton system allows accurate staging of the developing chick embryo and it has been used equally successful in developmental studies of other avian species.

2011 is the sixtieth anniversary of this article’s publication and it also marks the tenth anniversary of Hamburger’s death. The Hamburger-Hamilton article is far and away JMOR’s most cited article, both cumulatively (9,963 total cites) and annually (173 cites in 2010). The article was reprinted in Developmental Dynamics in 1992; the reprint has been cited 588 times, for a total of 10,551 cites to date.

With this virtual issue of the Journal of Morphology we would like to commemorate the original publication by Hamburger and Hamilton and celebrate its sixtieth anniversary. This virtual issue also presents a collection of recently published papers in the Journal of Morphology which build upon the seminal paper published in 1951.

A series of normal stages in the development of the chick embryo
Viktor Hamburger and Howard L. Hamilton
Volume 88, Issue 1, January 1951, pp. 49-92

Developmental stages until hatching of the Lake Victoria cichlid Haplochromis piceatus (Teleostei: Cichlidae)
Ilse M.L. de Jong, Frans Witte and Michael K. Richardson
Volume 270, Issue 5, May 2009, pp. 519-538

Decoupling morphological development from growth in periodically cooled zebra finch embryos
Christopher R. Olson, Carol M. Vleck and Dean C. Adams
Volume 269, Issue 7, July 2008, pp. 875-883

Skeletal development in the Chinese soft-shelled turtle Pelodiscus sinensis (Testudines: Trionychidae)
Marcelo R. Sánchez-Villagra, Hendrik Müller, Christopher A. Sheil, Torsten M. Scheyer, Hiroshi Nagashima and Shigeru Kuratani
Volume 270, Issue 11, November 2009, pp. 1381-1399

The morphology of prehatching embryos of Caecilia orientalis (Amphibia: Gymnophiona: Caeciliidae)
Oscar D. Pérez, Ngan Betty Lai, David Buckley, Eugenia M. del Pino and Marvalee H. Wake
Volume 270, Issue 12, December 2009, pp. 1492-1502

The ontogeny of the shell in side-necked turtles, with emphasis on the homologies of costal and neural bones
Torsten M. Scheyer, Benjamin Brüllmann and Marcelo R. Sánchez-Villagra
Volume 269, Issue 8, August 2008, pp. 1008-1021

Ossification sequence of the avian order anseriformes, with comparison to other precocial birds
Erin E. Maxwell
Volume 269, Issue 9, September 2008, pp. 1095-1113

Developmental morphology of the neonatal alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) ovary
Brandon C. Moore, Mari Carmen Uribe-Aranzábal, Ashley S.P. Boggs and Louis J. Guillette Jr.
Volume 269, Issue 3, March 2008, pp. 302-312

Chondrogenesis and ossification of the lissamphibian pectoral girdle
Rebecca M. Shearman
Volume 269, Issue 4, April 2008, pp. 479-495

Skeletal morphogenesis of the vertebral column of the miniature hylid frog Acris crepitans, with comments on anomalies
L. Analía Pugener and Anne M. Maglia
Volume 270, Issue 1, January 2009, pp. 52-69

4D-analysis of early pelvic girdle development in the mouse (Mus musculus)
Christine Pomikal and Johannes Streicher
Volume 271, Issue 1, January 2010, pp. 116-126

Ossification sequence of the common tern (Sterna hirundo) and its implications for the interrelationships of the Lari (Aves, Charadriiformes)
Erin E. Maxwell and Luke B. Harrison
Volume 269, Issue 9, September 2008, pp. 1056-1072

Heterochrony during skeletal development of Pseudis platensis (anura, hylidae) and the early offset of skeleton development and growth
Marissa Fabrezi and Javier Goldberg
Volume 270, Issue 2, February 2009, pp. 205-220

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