Phenotypic and developmental plasticity and sequence heterochrony in anurans - Proyecto colaborativo con la Universidad de Zurich.

Amphibians are an excellent subject in studies of development, evolution and systematics. The use of embryonic characters on amphibian systematics has been problematic, mostly because of methodological difficulties, many linked to the fact that little is known about intra-specific variation in the embryonic development of species of this large clade of vertebrates. Of particular interest are frog species, forming a large clade with diverse life history features and ecologies. A comprehensive study of development in frogs would serve as a test of the use of new methodologies on a rich subject matter on evolutionary and systematic problems. Based on this line of reasoning, we aim at addressing the question: Which is the phenotypic plasticity of four amphibian species during their changes in the sequences of development?