2013/04/28 by Zhuo Wang, Juan Pascual‐Anaya, Amonida Zadissa +31 · 2 citations
Environmental Science · Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Agricultural and Biological Sciences · #Turtle Biology and Conservation #Genetic and Clinical Aspects of Sex Determination and Chromosomal Abnormalities #Animal Behavior and Reproduction #Turtle (robot) #Biology #Body plan #Sea turtle #Yield (engineering) #Evolutionary biology #Zoology #Fishery #Ecology
paper · pdf · doi:10.1038/ng.2615
openalex publication_date 2013/04/28 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
The unique anatomical features of turtles have raised unanswered questions about the origin of their unique body plan. We generated and analyzed draft genomes of the soft-shell turtle (Pelodiscus sinensis) and the green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas); our results indicated the close relationship of the turtles to the bird-crocodilian lineage, from which they split ∼267.9-248.3 million years ago (Upper Permian to Triassic). We also found extensive expansion of olfactory receptor genes in these turtles. Embryonic gene expression analysis identified an hourglass-like divergence of turtle and chicken embryogenesis, with maximal conservation around the vertebrate phylotypic period, rather than at later stages that show the amniote-common pattern. Wnt5a expression was found in the growth zone of the dorsal shell, supporting the possible co-option of limb-associated Wnt signaling in the acquisition of this turtle-specific novelty. Our results suggest that turtle evolution was accompanied by an unexpectedly conservative vertebrate phylotypic period, followed by turtle-specific repatterning of development to yield the novel structure of the shell.