Tongue and taste organ development in the ontogeny of direct-developing salamander Plethodon cinereus (Lissamphibia: Plethodontidae).

The latest research on direct developing caecilian and anuran species indicate presence of only one generation of taste organs during their ontogeny. This is distinct from indirect developing batrachians studied thus far, which possess taste buds in larvae and anatomically distinct taste discs in metamorphs. This study is a description of the tongue and taste organ morphology and development in direct developing salamander Plethodon cinereus (Plethodontidae) using histology and electron microscopy techniques.

Confocal imaging of autonomic preganglionic neurons in the spinal cord of the caecilian Typhlonectes natans (Amphibia: Gymnophiona).

Little is known about the spinal sympathetic organization in the caecilian amphibians. We examined for the first time the location of sympathetic preganglionic neurons (SPNs) in the spinal cord using a panel of specific markers expressed in SPNs. The SPNs of anuran amphibians form two cell columns segregated mainly in the lateral and medial marginal areas of the central gray matter.