01616nas a2200157   4500008004100000245009400041210006900135300001400204490000800218520108700226100001801313700002801331700002101359700002401380856005401404       1997                        eng d00aJaw muscle development as evidence from embryonic repatterning in direct-developing frogs0 aJaw muscle development as evidence from embryonic repatterning i  a1349-13540 v2643 aThe Puerto Rican direct-developing frog Eleutherodactylus coqui (Leptodactylidae) displays a novel mode of jaw muscle development for anuran amphibians. Unlike metamorphosing species, several larval-specific features never form in E. coqui; embryonic muscle primordia initially assume an abbreviated, mid-metamorphic configuration that is soon remodelled to form the adult morphology before hatching. Also lacking are both the distinct population of larval myofibres and the conspicuous, larval-to-adult myofibre turnover that are characteristic of muscle development in metamorphosing species. These modifications are part of a comprehensive alteration in embryonic cranial patterning that has accompanied life history evolution in this highly speciose lineage. Embryonic ’repatterning’ in Eleutherodactylus may reflect underlying developmental mechanisms that mediate the integrated evolution of complex structures. Such mechanisms may also facilitate, in organisms with a primitively complex life cycle, the evolutionary dissociation of embryonic, larval, and adult features.1 aHanken, James1 aKlymkowsky, Michael, W.1 aAlley, Keith, E.1 aJennings, David, H.  uhttps://africanamphibians.myspecies.info/node/462