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Figure 1 | EvoDevo

Figure 1

From: Crocodylians evolved scattered multi-sensory micro-organs

Figure 1

Distribution and structure of integumentary sensory organs in crocodylians. (A) Anesthetized juvenile C. niloticus showing the presence of integumentary sensory organs (ISOs) on dorsal, face/jaws, ventral, and neck scales (insets B-E). (B-E) Parasagittal sections of corresponding ISO-bearing skin stained with H&E (low and high magnifications) or processed for double immunostaining of acetylated tubulin (neuronal marker) together with pan-cadherin (general epithelial marker) or pan-α-cytokeratin (α-keratin-specific epithelial marker). Cell nuclei were counterstained with 4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (blue). (F) Anesthetized juvenile Caiman crocodilus showing the absence of ISOs on postcranial scales (inset G) and their presence on face/jaws scales only (inset H). (G-H) Parasagittal sections of corresponding skin processed as in (B-E). The lightly stained dermal component of ISOs is indicated by dashed lines. White arrowheads indicate melanocytes; e, epidermis; d, dermis; os, outer-scale region; is, inter-scale region; pc, primary crack. Magnification bars: 100 μm.

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