Abstract
Living amniotes comprise three major phylogenetic lineages: mammals, birds, and non-avian reptiles. Mouse and avian embryos continue to be the primary species used in experimental settings to further our knowledge and understanding of the genetics and embryology of amniotes. In comparison, non-avian reptiles, which constitute up to 40% of all living amniotes, have played a comparatively minor role. Studies of non-avian reptiles are, however, paramount for providing insights into the evolutionary changes that occurred in the transition from reptilian-like amniote ancestors to derived mammalian and avian species. Here, we introduce the Veiled Chameleon, a squamate reptile, as a new experimental model for examining fundamental questions in development, evolution, and disease.
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Acknowledgments
The Diaz Lab is supported by the College of Arts and Sciences and the Department of Biology at La Sierra University (LSU). RED would like to thank Ryan Carney for helpful discussions during manuscript preparation and the staff at the Reptile & Aquatics Facility at SIMR as well as Nayab Riasat and Antoine Hanna at the LSU Reptile Facility for help with animal husbandry. F.B. is a Ramon Y Cajal Fellow at the Institute of Biomedicine and Biotechnology of Cantabria (IBBTEC), Santander, Spain. P.A.T. is supported by the Stowers Institute for Medical Research.
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Diaz, R.E., Bertocchini, F., Trainor, P.A. (2017). Lifting the Veil on Reptile Embryology: The Veiled Chameleon (Chamaeleo calyptratus) as a Model System to Study Reptilian Development. In: Sheng, G. (eds) Avian and Reptilian Developmental Biology. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 1650. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-7216-6_18
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-7216-6_18
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