May 14 (UPI) --According to a new study, vertebrae numbers vary the most among mammals that spend much of their life hanging and swinging from tree limbs, like apes and sloths. Previously, scientists ...

It has long been known that the identity of each vertebra is due to the activation of a class of genes called "Hox." Now, researchers in Portugal show that besides determining the identity of the ...

Differences in numbers of vertebrae are most extreme in mammals which do not rely on running and leaping, such as those adapted to suspensory locomotion like apes and sloths, a team of anthropologists ...

Correlation between the number of vertebrae and regions with habitat: Picture of the backbone of a species living in shallow waters (left) and the open ocean (right) showing the differences in number ...

Unlike nearly every mammal that has seven vertebrae in its neck no matter how long or short its neck, sloths stand out as oddballs with up to 10. Now it turns out sloths are part of the fold (sort of) ...

This is a preview. Log in through your library . Abstract Morphoclines for the front and rear limb bone configurations in the sand-swimming lizard genus Lerista trace only a very narrow pathway ...