Teeny lizards reveal how vertebrates grow

Flora Graham, deputy editor, newscientist.com

The limb buds of this Anolis longitibialis embryo are visible and the fore- and mid-brain have developed into distinct lobes (Image: Martha M. Mu?oz)

The Anolis lizard is more than a model subject for a series of photos of life inside an anole egg - it's also the model for a new system to compare vertebrate growth.

These photos reveal the developmental stages of lizard embryos, in a bid to help us understand how genetics underlies the variations between species with backbones.

This Anolis cybotes embryo is more developed and sports separated toes (Image: Martha M. Mu?oz)

The images, taken by Martha Mu?oz of Harvard University, show how the embryos develop at different rates in hot and cold conditions.

Mu?oz's work follows a recent study by fellow Harvard researcher Thomas Sanger, who suggested that the Anolis lizard would be an ideal developmental model for vertebrates because of our good understanding of its ecology and evolution, and because its genome has already been sequenced.

Source: http://feeds.newscientist.com/c/749/f/10897/s/1a941b6d/l/0L0Snewscientist0N0Cblogs0Cshortsharpscience0C20A110C120Cteeny0Elizards0Ereveal0Ethe0Ecuter0Bhtml0DDCMP0FOTC0Erss0Gnsref0Fonline0Enews/story01.htm

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