Tek bir pul üzerinde kademeli mikro-süsleme değişimleri: Fossorial yılan Xerotyphlops vermicularis örneği

Abstract

Çok katmanlı sürüngen epidermisinin en dış tabakası oberhautchen tabakasıdır. Bu sert tabaka, genellikle mikro-süslemeler olarak adlandırılan hücre altı yapılar taşır. Bu mikro yapılar, türe özgü geniş bir çeşitliliğe sahiptir. Bu farklılaştırıcı morfoloji, araştırmacıları bunların türün taksonomik durumu veya ekolojik rolüyle ilişkili olabileceğini düşünmeye yönlendirmektedir. Bugüne kadar birçok araştırma yapılmış olmasına rağmen, mikro-süslemelerin filogeni veya ekoloji ile ilişkili olup olmadığı tartışması sonuçlanmamıştır. Xerotyphlops vermicularis üzerinde ayrıntılı pul mikro-süs araştırması eksiktir ve mikro-süslemelerin türe özgü olduğu ve hatta aynı örneğin tek bir pulunda bile değiştiği bulunduğundan, bu çalışmayla bu eksikliğin giderilmesi amaçlanmıştır. Sırt deri örnekleri yüzeysel morfoloji açısından taramalı elektron mikroskobu (SEM) ile, çok katmanlı epidermis açısından ise ışık mikroskobu ile incelenmiştir. Tek bir pul yüzeyinde farklı bölgelerde farklı tipte mikro-süslenmelerin bulunduğu, bunların giderek değiştiği; düzgün kenarlı ve yüzeyli üçgen hücrelerin, hücre yüzeyinde çukurlar bulunan dişli kenarlı hücrelere dönüştüğü saptanmıştır. Mikro süsler ile ekoloji/taksonomi arasındaki ilişkinin gerçek niteliğini ortaya koyabilmek için birçok farklı türde benzer, ayrıntılı morfolojik çalışmaların yapılması gerekmektedir.

Keywords

• mikro-süsleme
• epidermis
• çeşitlilik
• Xerotyphlops
• morfoloji

Gradual micro-ornamentation shifts on a single scale: A case of fossorial snake Xerotyphlops vermicularis

Abstract

The outermost surface of multilayered reptile epidermis is called oberhautchen. This hard layer has sub-cellular structures, often called micro-ornamentations. These microstructures have a wide, species-specific variety. This differentiating morphology leads the researchers to think that they might be correlated with either taxonomic state of the species or its ecological role. Even though many research has been conducted, up to date, the debate of whether micro-ornamentations are related to phylogeny or ecology has not resulted. Detailed scale micro-ornamentation research was lacking on Xerotyphlops vermicularis, and since the micro-ornamentations were found to be species-specific and even varying within a singular scale of the same specimen, we aimed to fulfil the lack with the present study. We examined dorsal skin samples with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) for surficial morphology and with light microscopy for the multilayered epidermis. We found that different types of micro-ornamentations are present in different regions on a single scale surface, changing gradually; triangular cells with smooth edges and surfaces change into denticulated edges with pits on the cell surface. It is clear that similar, detailed morphological studies need to be conducted in many different species to reveal the true nature of the correlation between micro-ornamentations and ecology/taxonomy.

Keywords

• micro-ornamentation
• epidermis
• diversity
• Xerotyphlops
• morphology

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