Quantitative analysis of forebrain pallial morphology in monotremes and comparison with that in therians

Ashwell, Ken W.S.; Gurovich, Yamila

doi:10.1016/j.zool.2019.04.002

Cited by 5 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 50 publications

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“…We quantified the overall volume of the cerebellum and found that it scales with brain volume when compared to other mammals ( Fig. 7 D ), further demonstrating that the thylacine brain shows highly conserved trends with other species ( 36 , 47 ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 73%

“…3 ). However, thylacine gyrification is remarkably lower than eutherians of similar brain size ( 35 , 36 ), as evidenced by the slopes of their regression lines ( Fig. 3 A ) and by direct comparison with a representative example of the highly convoluted brain of a mid-sized canid, the red fox ( Vulpes vulpes ; Figs.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 86%

“…We measured lengths and areas across the whole brain of all imaged sections using Fiji (NIH). To account for dehydration and tissue shrinkage, we used a mean linear shrinkage factor of 0.738 and a three-dimensional adjustment factor 0.403, as described previously for similar brains from the CSIRO collection ( 36 ). The volume of the brain, isocortex, and periallocortex (gray matter, white matter, and total), AON and Pir cortex, and amygdala was measured using similar methods and boundaries to those used in the analysis of diprotodont marsupials and eutherian brains ( 35 ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The scaling of brain region volumes was analyzed and compared with data from metatherian and eutherian brains studied using equivalent metrics ( 13 , 35 , 36 , 43 , 47 , 55 ). Taxonomic data were collected for each species via the taxize package in R ( 56 ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Clade-specific forebrain cytoarchitectures of the extinct Tasmanian tiger

Haines

Bailey

Nelson

et al. 2023

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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The thylacine, or Tasmanian tiger, is the largest of modern-day carnivorous marsupials and was hunted to extinction by European settlers in Australia. Its physical resemblance to eutherian wolves is a striking example of evolutionary convergence to similar ecological niches. However, whether the neuroanatomical organization of the thylacine brain resembles that of canids and how it compares with other mammals remain unknown due to the scarcity of available samples. Here, we gained access to a century-old hematoxylin-stained histological series of a thylacine brain, digitalized it at high resolution, and compared its forebrain cellular architecture with 34 extant species of monotremes, marsupials, and eutherians. Phylogenetically informed comparisons of cortical folding, regional volumes, and cell sizes and densities across cortical areas and layers provide evidence against brain convergences with canids, instead demonstrating features typical of marsupials, and more specifically Dasyuridae, along with traits that scale similarly with brain size across mammals. Enlarged olfactory, limbic, and neocortical areas suggest a small-prey predator and/or scavenging lifestyle, similar to extant quolls and Tasmanian devils. These findings are consistent with a nonuniformity of trait convergences, with brain traits clustering more with phylogeny and head/body traits with lifestyle. By making this resource publicly available as rapid web-accessible, hierarchically organized, multiresolution images for perpetuity, we anticipate that additional comparative insights might arise from detailed studies of the thylacine brain and encourage researchers and curators to share, annotate, and preserve understudied material of outstanding biological relevance.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 73%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 86%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Clade-specific forebrain cytoarchitectures of the extinct Tasmanian tiger

Haines

Bailey

Nelson

et al. 2023

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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show abstract

“…For this, we curated published GI values for each genus; any species in a genus with a GI value above 1.2 was considered gyrencephalic (Figures 6A-C). When GI values were not available, brain image data from the Comparative Mammalian Brain Collection and published statements describing species as gyrencephalic or lissencephalic were used for this classification (Harper and Maser, 1976;Sullivan, 1982;Kawamoto et al, 1998;Phelps and Young, 2003;Xiao et al, 2006;Marino, 2007;Morawski et al, 2010;Lewitus et al, 2013;Zilles et al, 2013;Mota and Herculano-Houzel, 2015;Bhagwandin et al, 2017;Spocter et al, 2017;Raghanti et al, 2018;Ashwell and Gurovich, 2019;Marchand and Schwartz, 2019). The collection available at 2 was used in our binary classification system.…”

Section: Phylogenetic Relationship Between Nde1 and High-order Gyrifimentioning

confidence: 99%

Role of NDE1 in the Development and Evolution of the Gyrified Cortex

2020

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An expanded cortex is a hallmark of human neurodevelopment and endows increased cognitive capabilities. Recent work has shown that the cell cycle-related gene NDE1 is essential for proper cortical development. Patients who have mutations in NDE1 exhibit congenital microcephaly as a primary phenotype. At the cellular level, NDE1 is essential for interkinetic nuclear migration and mitosis of radial glial cells, which translates to an indispensable role in neurodevelopment. The nuclear migration function of NDE1 is well conserved across Opisthokonta. In mammals, multiple isoforms containing alternate terminal exons, which influence the functionality of NDE1, have been reported. It has been noted that the pattern of terminal exon usage mirrors patterns of cortical complexity in mammals. To provide context to these findings, here, we provide a comprehensive review of the literature regarding NDE1, its molecular biology and physiological relevance at the cellular and organismal levels. In particular, we outline the potential roles of NDE1 in progenitor cell behavior and explore the spectrum of NDE1 pathogenic variants. Moreover, we assessed the evolutionary conservation of NDE1 and interrogated whether the usage of alternative terminal exons is characteristic of species with gyrencephalic cortices. We found that gyrencephalic species are more likely to express transcripts that use the human-associated terminal exon, whereas lissencephalic species tend to express transcripts that use the mouse-associated terminal exon. Among gyrencephalic species, the human-associated terminal exon was preferentially expressed by those with a high order of gyrification. These findings underscore phylogenetic relationships between the preferential usage of NDE1 terminal exon and high-order gyrification, which provide insight into cortical evolution underlying high-order brain functions.

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Quantitative analysis of cerebellar morphology in monotreme, metatherian and eutherian mammals

Ashwell

2020

Zoology

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Quantitative analysis of forebrain pallial morphology in monotremes and comparison with that in therians

Cited by 5 publications

References 50 publications

Clade-specific forebrain cytoarchitectures of the extinct Tasmanian tiger

Clade-specific forebrain cytoarchitectures of the extinct Tasmanian tiger

Role of NDE1 in the Development and Evolution of the Gyrified Cortex

Quantitative analysis of cerebellar morphology in monotreme, metatherian and eutherian mammals

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