Abstract
ABSTRACT. Female Pipa carvalhoi incubate their eggs in the skin of the dorsum where the embryos develop until they emerge. Behavioral and morphological aspects of this reproductive mode were studied through courtship until the tadpoles emerged. Samples of the female skin were collected beginning a few hours after egg deposition and through subsequent phases of larval development and examined using standard histology, histochemistry and immunohistochemistry. The females' dorsal skin structure changes during egg implantation and development. These changes may be mediated by hormones and enzymes in a manner paralleling that of trophoblast implantation in mammal endometrium. The lack of vittelum and the extensive vascularization in the female after the 14th day of egg implantation suggest interaction through blood between the female and embryos. This hypothesis could be better accessed, if comparisons could be made with similar species such as Pipa pipa and Pipa arrabali, in which the embryos hatch only after...
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