Field and Laboratory
Publication Date
6-1-1953
Abstract
Necturus normally has four digits on each limb, but several variations of this basic pattern have been recorded. Necturus with three toes on one or more feet have been reported by Jenness (1942, 1944), Hutt (1945) and Mattox (1944). Individuals with five toes were reported by Jenness (1942, 1946); one with eight toes was reported by Mattox. Digits may have one phalanx less than is usual (Mattox) or one phalanx more than is usual (Harris, 1952). Mattox had one specimen in which digit 4 was missing on one leg, and another in which an extra phalanx grew from the side of digit 3 on one forefoot. Jenness (1942) found webbed toes on the hindfoot of one specimen; and in another specimen (1946) found the second and third toes fused at the second phalanx. Hilton (1948) figured a specimen with two feet on one leg; one foot had four toes, the other foot had three toes. Five additional digital abnormalities are briefly noted here. Musculature and circulatory channels of each abnormal foot were studied; afterward the foot was cleared in KOH and lightly stained in alizarin red. The following numbered paragraphs refer seriatim to the figures here published, drawn from the palmar or plantar surface.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
Recommended Citation
Harris, Joseph P. Jr.
(1953)
"Abnormal Digits in Necturus,"
Field and Laboratory: Vol. 21
:
No.
3.
Available at:
https://scholar.smu.edu/fieldandlab/vol21/iss3/6
