Exploring cranial development in the mourning gecko ( Lepidodactylus lugubris ) through 3D modelling of the chondrocranium

The chondrocranium plays a central role in cranial development. However, its structure and ontogenetic transformations are poorly documented in many reptile lineages, particularly geckos. Here, we present the first detailed 3D reconstruction and anatomical description of the chondrocranium of Lepidodactylus lugubris (Duméril and Bibron, 1836), the mourning gecko, based on phosphotungstic acid (PTA)-enhanced micro-­computed tomorgraphy (CT) scans of three embryonic stages. We describe the neurocranium and splanchnocranium, compare morphology across other gecko species, and map selected characters onto a simplified phylogeny. Our findings reveal conserved traits (e.g. a single fenestra optica, an unfenestrated interorbital septum) and unique features (e.g. planum antorbitale contacting the nasal septum, no contact between the auditory capsule and the processus ascendens, and an oval–triangular hypophysial fenestra), the latter recovered as putative autapomorphies of L. lugubris. Several characters showed high interspecific variation, while others (taenia marginalis, pilae antotica and accesoria, and basicranial fenestra) were ontogenetically variable, highlighting the importance of developmental timing in anatomical interpretations. This study offers a new framework for understanding skull development in geckos, while highlighting the phylogenetic potential of chondrocranial data in reptiles. It also represents the first application of PTA-enhanced micro-CT to visualize embryonic cranial cartilage in reptiles.

• Publication year

  2025

• Venue

  Biological Journal of the Linnean Society

• Publication date

  2025-11-01

• Fields of study

  Not labeled

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1093/biolinnean/blaf102
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

• Universal conditional networks (UniCoN) for multi-age embryonic cartilage segmentation with sparsely annotated data

  2025cited by this paper
• Chondrocranial anatomy of Testudo hermanni (Testudinidae, Testudines) with a comparison to other turtles

  2024cited by this paper
• Variation and development of the turtle chondrocranium, with a description of the common musk turtle (Sternotherus odoratus, Kinosternidae, Cryptodira, Testudines)

  2023cited by this paper
• Embryonic development of the skull in a parthenogenetic lizard, the mourning gecko (Lepidodactylus lugubris)

  2023cited by this paper
• Discrete embryonic character variation uncovers hidden ecological adaptations in lacertid lizards

  2022cited by this paper
• A dysmorphic mouse model reveals developmental interactions of chondrocranium and dermatocranium

  2022cited by this paper
• Resolving complex cartilage structures in developmental biology via deep learning-based automatic segmentation of X-ray computed microtomography images

  2022cited by this paper
• A new Early Cretaceous lizard in Myanmar amber with exceptionally preserved integument

  2021cited by this paper
• Vertebrate Skeletal Histology and Paleohistology

  2021cited by this paper
• How to Render Species Comparable Taxonomic Units Through Deep Time: a Case Study on Intraspecific Osteological Variability in Extant and Extinct Lacertid Lizards.

  2021cited by this paper
• Embryonic skull development in the gecko, Tarentola annularis (Squamata: Gekkota: Phyllodactylidae)

  2020cited by this paper
• The biomechanical role of the chondrocranium and the material properties of cartilage

  2020cited by this paper
• Cartilage Segmentation in High-Resolution 3D Micro-CT Images via Uncertainty-Guided Self-training with Very Sparse Annotation

  2020cited by this paper
• New embryological and palaeontological evidence sheds light on the evolution of the archosauromorph ankle

  2020cited by this paper
• Heterochronic shifts and conserved embryonic shape underlie crocodylian craniofacial disparity and convergence

  2019cited by this paper
• Phosphotungstic acid‐enhanced microCT: Optimized protocols for embryonic and early postnatal mice

  2019cited by this paper
• Development of the chondrocranium in the domesticated fowl (Gallus gallus f. domestica), with a study on the variation of the of hypoglossal foramina

  2019cited by this paper
• The origin of orbitotemporal diversity in lepidosaurs: insights from tuatara chondrocranial anatomy

  2019cited by this paper
• What geckos are – an ecological-biogeographic perspective

  2019cited by this paper
• Development of the chondrocranium of two caiman species, Caiman latirostris and Caiman yacare

  2019cited by this paper
• Embryonic development of a parthenogenetic vertebrate, the mourning gecko (Lepidodactylus lugubris)

  2019cited by this paper
• The Chondrocranium Development of Stenodactylus slevini (Squamata: Gekkonidae) I.Stage I

  2018cited by this paper
• Cranial shape variation in jacarean caimanines (Crocodylia, Alligatoroidea) and its implications in the taxonomic status of extinct species: The case of Melanosuchus fisheri

  2018cited by this paper
• Character definition and tempus optimum in comparative chondrocranial research

  2018cited by this paper
• Phylogenetic history, allometry and disparate functional pressures influence the morphological diversification of the gekkotan quadrate, a keystone cranial element

  2018cited by this paper
• Tracing the developmental origin of a lizard skull: Chondrocranial architecture, heterochrony, and variation in lacertids

  2018cited by this paper
• Shedding Light on the Taxonomic Diversity of the South American Miocene Caimans: The Status of Melanosuchus fisheri (Crocodylia, Alligatoroidea)

  2017cited by this paper
• The biomechanical role of the chondrocranium and sutures in a lizard cranium

  2017cited by this paper
• Use of micro computed-tomography and 3D printing for reverse engineering of mouse embryo nasal capsule

  2016cited by this paper
• Diffusible iodine‐based contrast‐enhanced computed tomography (diceCT): an emerging tool for rapid, high‐resolution, 3‐D imaging of metazoan soft tissues

  2016cited by this paper
• Early stages of skull embryogenesis in the Grass snake, Natrix natrix (Serpentes, Colubridae)

  2015cited by this paper
• Skeletal heterochrony is associated with the anatomical specializations of snakes among squamate reptiles

  2015cited by this paper
• Bony skull development in the Argus monitor (Squamata, Varanidae, Varanus panoptes) with comments on developmental timing and adult anatomy.

  2015cited by this paper
• Desarrollo embrionario del cráneo en la lagartija vivípara Mabuya (Squamata: Scincidae)

  2015cited by this paper
• Divergent palate morphology in turtles and birds correlates with differences in proliferation and BMP2 expression during embryonic development.

  2014cited by this paper
• Anatomy of the fully formed chondrocranium of Podocnemis unifilis (Pleurodira: Podocnemididae)

  2014cited by this paper
• Gobekko cretacicus (Reptilia: Squamata) and its bearing on the interpretation of gekkotan affinities

  2013cited by this paper
• Late embryos and bony skull development in Bothropoides jararaca (Serpentes, Viperidae).

  2013cited by this paper
• Species, speciation and palaeontology up to the Modern Synthesis: persistent themes and unanswered questions

  2013cited by this paper
• A review on the avian chondrocranium

  2013cited by this paper
• Anatomy of the fully formed chondrocranium of Emydura subglobosa (Chelidae): A pleurodiran turtle

  2013cited by this paper
• Polar cartilages and formation of Crista sellaris in grass snake, natrix natrix (Ophidia, Colubridae), chondrocranium at the early stages of embryogenesis

  2012cited by this paper
• Embryonic development of the skull of the Andean lizard Ptychoglossus bicolor (Squamata, Gymnophthalmidae)

  2012cited by this paper
• Ontogeny of the Alligator Cartilago Transiliens and Its Significance for Sauropsid Jaw Muscle Evolution

  2011cited by this paper
• Are you what you eat? A geometric morphometric analysis of gekkotan skull shape

  2009cited by this paper
• MicroCT for developmental biology: A versatile tool for high‐contrast 3D imaging at histological resolutions

  2009cited by this paper
• MicroCT for comparative morphology: simple staining methods allow high-contrast 3D imaging of diverse non-mineralized animal tissues

  2009cited by this paper
• Out of the blue: a novel, trans‐Atlantic clade of geckos (Gekkota, Squamata)

  2008cited by this paper
• Evidence for Gondwanan vicariance in an ancient clade of gecko lizards

  2007cited by this paper
• Embryonic development of Python sebae - I: Staging criteria and macroscopic skeletal morphogenesis of the head and limbs.

  2007cited by this paper
• The Early Development of the Chondrocranium of the Lizard

  2006cited by this paper
• The phylogeny of squamate reptiles (lizards, snakes, and amphisbaenians) inferred from nine nuclear protein-coding genes.

  2005cited by this paper
• Postparietal and prehatching ontogeny of the supraoccipital in Alligator mississippiensis (Archosauria, Crocodylia)

  2001cited by this paper
• Development of the Chondrocranium of the Loggerhead Turtle, Caretta caretta

  1999cited by this paper
• Loss of carpal elements in crocodilian limb evolution: morphogenetic model corroborated by palaeobiological data

  1997cited by this paper
• The Evolution of the Antorbital Cavity of Archosaurs: A Study in Soft-Tissue Reconstruction in the Fossil Record with an Analysis of the Function of Pneumaticity

  1997cited by this paper
• Homology of facial structures in extant archosaurs (birds and crocodilians), with special reference to paranasal pneumaticity and nasal conchae

  1995cited by this paper
• Studies on Skeleton formation in reptiles. IV. The homology of the reptilian (amniote) astragalus revisited

  1993cited by this paper
• CONCEPTS AND TESTS OF HOMOLOGY IN THE CLADISTIC PARADIGM

  1991cited by this paper
• The cranial development of Elaphe obsoleta (Ophidia, colubridae)

  1983cited by this paper
• The fully formed chondrocranium of the agamid lizard, Agama pallida

  1981cited by this paper
• The development of the chondrocranium of the lacertid lizard, Acanthodactylus boskiana

  1972cited by this paper
• The development of the skull of Psammophis sibilans. I. The development of the chondrocranium

  1965cited by this paper
• The development of the skull of Psammophis sibilans. II. The fully formed chondrocranium

  1965cited by this paper
• The Structure and the Development of the Chondrocranium of Varanus.

  1963cited by this paper
• The development of the skull of Ptyodactylus hasselquistii. II. The fully formed chondrocranium

  1961cited by this paper
• The development of the skull of Ptyodactylus hasselquistii. I. The development of the chondrocranium

  1961cited by this paper
• The Chondrocranium of Tropiocolotes tripolitanus

  1960cited by this paper
• The development of the skull of Chalcides ocellatus. II. The fully formed chondrocranium and the osteocranium of a late embryo

  1959cited by this paper
• THE FULLY FORMED CHONDROCRANIUM OF MABUYA WITH AN ACCOUNT OF THE ADULT OSTEOCRANIUM1

  1952cited by this paper
• The chondrocranium of Calotes versicolor (Daud.) with a description of the osteocranium of a just-hatched young.

  1946cited by this paper
• Das knorpelige Neurocranium des Gecko (Platydactilus annularis)

  1921cited by this paper
• Das Chondrocranium von Lacerta agilis

  1900cited by this paper

• Structure and evolution of the embryonic cartilaginous skull of crocodilians

  2025cites this paper