| host-defense and trefoil factor family peptides in skin secretions of the mawa clawed frog xenopus boumbaensis (pipidae). | peptidomic analysis of norepinephrine-stimulated skin secretions from the octoploid mawa clawed frog xenopus boumbaensis loumont, 1983 led to the identification and characterization of 15 host-defense peptides belonging to the magainin (two peptides), peptide glycine-leucine-amide (pgla; three peptides), xenopsin precursor fragment (xpf; three peptides), caerulein precursor fragment (cpf; two peptides), and caerulein precursor fragment-related peptide (cpf-rp; five peptides) families. in additio ... | 2015 | 25849343 |
| distinct neural and neuromuscular strategies underlie independent evolution of simplified advertisement calls. | independent or convergent evolution can underlie phenotypic similarity of derived behavioural characters. determining the underlying neural and neuromuscular mechanisms sheds light on how these characters arose. one example of evolutionarily derived characters is a temporally simple advertisement call of male african clawed frogs (xenopus) that arose at least twice independently from a more complex ancestral pattern. how did simplification occur in the vocal circuit? to distinguish shared from d ... | 2013 | 23407829 |
| species-specific loss of sexual dimorphism in vocal effectors accompanies vocal simplification in african clawed frogs (xenopus). | phylogenetic studies can reveal patterns of evolutionary change, including the gain or loss of elaborate courtship traits in males. male african clawed frogs generally produce complex and rapid courtship vocalizations, whereas female calls are simple and slow. in a few species, however, male vocalizations are also simple and slow, suggesting loss of male-typical traits. here, we explore features of the male vocal organ that could contribute to loss in two species with simple, slow male calls. in ... | 2015 | 25788725 |