Classics revisited. History of reptile placentology: Studiati's early account of placentation in a viviparous lizard.

Although placental diversity in mammals received growing attention in the 1600s through the early 1800s, placentation was not documented in reptiles until the mid-19th century. In his classic 1855 study on a viviparous lizard, Cesare Studiati (University of Pisa) described a structural/functional arrangement of fetal and maternal tissues that meets contemporary criteria for recognition of placentation. Through the fortuitous selection of a highly placentotrophic species, Chalcides chalcides, Studiati recognized the functional role of placental tissues in provision of oxygen as well as nutrients.