Dissertation Research: The Evolution of a Developmental Process: A Comparative and Experimental Study of Palatoquadrate Metamorphosis in the Amphibia

当蝌蚪蜕变成青蛙时，头骨就会发生大范围的重塑。一些最大的变化发生在腭部，伴随着蝌蚪末端的小嘴巴转变为青蛙的宽大张嘴。这项研究将试图通过描述青蛙之间变质模式的变异性，并将它们与火蜥蜴和毛虫进行比较，试图重建这种显著变化的进化史，后者在变态过程中的重塑范围要小得多。此外，关于腭部结构之间因果(归纳)关系的实验工作将通过允许更严格地确定这些群体之间哪些结构真正具有可比性，来进一步测试任何拟议的进化情景。

When a tadpole metamorphoses into frog extensive remodelling of the skull occurs. Some of the greatest changes occur in the palatal region, in association with the transformation of the small, terminal mouth opening of the tadpole into the wide gape of the frog. This study will attempt to reconstruct the evolutionary history of this remarkable transformation by describing variability in the metamorphic pattern among frogs, and by comparing them with salamanders and caecilians, which have much less extensive remodelling during metamorphosis. In addition, experimental work on the causal (inductive) relations between palatal structures will serve to further test any proposed evolutionary scenario, by allowing more rigorous determination of which structures are truly comparable between these groups.