Abstract
Cranial development and shape was studied in a large series of the salamander Siren intermedia. Six developmental stages were defined based on timing of ossification and other conspicuous events during ontogeny. Ontogeny of cranial shape was quantified by comparing average landmark configurations describing dorsal cranial shape for each of the six developmental stages by using thin-plate spline and resistant fit theta-rho analyses. Cranial elements in Siren have ontogenetic patterns that are truncated, normal, or completely novel as compared to cranial ontogenies of metamorphosing taxa; overall dorsal cranial shape remains remarkably constant throughout ontogeny. The maxillae, palatopterygoid elements, and hyobranchial apparatus display patterns of heterochrony unique to Siren. The mosaic of larval, metamorphic, and unique patterns of development and cranial-shape paedomorphosis exhibited by Siren fundamentally differs from general patterns of paedomorphosis observed in other taxa. Several of the novel traits seem to be functional adaptations for feeding in the close confines of a burrow.
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