The correlation between bone morphology and habitat type of tree-dwelling frog species was studied.

Bones play an important role in the life activities of organisms, providing them with technical support and protection of important organs, and providing attachment surfaces for muscle tissue.
study points out that the skeletal morphology of amphibian species is directly related to their habitat type, so bone morphology research is a good source of understanding the adaptive evolution of species.
Li Jiatang of the Chengdu Institute of Biology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences studied tree-dwelling frog species (tree frogs and rain frogs, Figure 1) and non-tree-dwelling frog species (Singyu, Toad, Horn, Ji frog and frog), and compared morphological studies of forebrains and third palm bones, combining systematic developmental relationships and ecological bit analysis to further explore the adaptive evolution of tailless species to tree-dwelling frogs.
The study showed that the tree frog species Rhacophorinae had a bony nod (Bony knob, Figure 2) at the far end of the third palm bone, which was formed by cartilage hardening of the joint cartilage (AL) on the side, which was anatomically found to have muscles attached to it.
system development comparison method (PCM) showed a significant correlation between this feature and tree habitat.
therefore, the study speculates that bone nods may provide a larger adhesion area for muscles, which can help improve grip.
In addition, the results show that there is a bend in the middle of the third palm bone of the Hyla genus in the same direction as the bone noum (Figure 2), which may act as a special insertion position or force point to help the rain frog genus produce greater grip.
analysis of the forearms and hands of tree-dwelling frogs and non-tree-dwelling frog species showed significant differences in relative hand length between non-tree-dwelling frogs and tree-dwelling frogs (Figure 3).
tree-dwelling frogs have longer hands, which may be associated with grips in tree-dwelling adaptations.
research was funded by the Youth Fund Project of the Southeast Asian Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, and the International Cooperation Fund of the Sichuan Provincial Science and Technology Department.
research was recently published in Acta Zoologica.
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