One more 5-fingered foto

[leanne]

Bear with me, guys---I know I keep taking pics of my male notopthalmus v.v.'s five-fingered right hand, but it is very fascinating to me, and I wonder if anyone has any insight into this phenomenon--especially since it appears that all of the digits are functional, leading me to believe that he has 5 complete finger bones? What is the physical reason for this kind of oddity? Perhaps the fact that there is a nuclear facility nearby

 

[ira]

it probally lost a finger at some point and the new one split into two during regeneration. Its pretty common feature among caudates. (there are some pictures of a 5 legged tylo on one of the forums)

 

[jennifer]

I think it's really cool, and I especially like this photo. Although it's uncommon, it doesn't really mean much. These kinds of errors happen in every animal with fingers, even humans. Given the way that fingers develop, the real amazement for me is that the number usually comes out right! Newts have a lot more "plasticity" in the development of fingers (i.e., they can lose them, sometimes even spontaneously, and then regrow them), so I suspect that wrong numbers are more common in newts than in "higher" animals.

Can I have permission to use this photo on Caudata Culture (marked with your name, of course)? I'm not really sure where I'd put it, but I might think of some place where it would be a good illustration of something.

 

[leanne]

Thanks Ira and Jen for the info, and Jen I would feel very honored if you use this photo however you would like!