Life history of amphibians and gravity.

Anurans hold a unique position in vertebrate phylogeny, as they made the major transition from water to land. Through evolution they have acquired fundamental mechanisms to adapt to terrestrial gravity. Such mechanisms are now shared among other terrestrial vertebrates derived from ancestral amphibians.

[Perspective on gravitational biology of amphibians].

We review here the scientific significance of the use of amphibians for research in gravitational biology. Since amphibian eggs are quite large, yet develop rapidly and externally, it is easy to observe their development. Consequently amphibians were the first vertebrates to have their early developmental processes investigated in space.

[Comparative morphology of the livers in amphibians].

Amphibians are divided into three orders: Gymnophiona, Urodela and Anura. We studied on the correlation between the liver structures in the three orders of amphibians by histological technique. Livers of thirty species of amphibian were fixed by perfusion with paraformaldehyde, and observed by light microscopy in special staining for elastic fibers.

[Adaptive features of life history for space experiments seen in Rana tagoi tadpoles].

We propose to use the physiological responses of tadpoles in space to study the effects of gravity at the organismal level. The tadpoles we propose for study, Rana tagoi, have naturally transparent abdominal walls, permitting viscera, such as heart and intestine, to be easily observed. Rana tagoi is a mountainous species that lays eggs in water, typically at crevasses in rocky substrates.

[Remodeling of small intestine with metamorphosis in tadpoles (Rhacophorus owstoni)].

The alimentary canal of typical anurans is remodeled during metamorphosis. We examined the tissue structure of small intestine in tadpoles of the treefrog, Rhacophorus owstoni. The cytoskeletal components of the smooth muscle cells were identified by immunohistochemically with alpha-smooth muscle actin antibody.