Opening a can of centipedes: new insights into mechanisms of body segmentation
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Updated: May 5, 2026
Three and Four-Dimensional Visualization and Analysis Approaches to Study Vertebrate Axial Elongation and Segmentation
Published on: February 28, 2021
Guillaume Valentin1, Andrew C Oates
1MRC National Institute for Medical Research, The Ridgeway, Mill Hill, London NW7 1AA, UK. aoates@nimr.mrc.ac.uk.
Abstract:
The search for a common developmental genetic mechanism of body segmentation appears to become more difficult, and more interesting, as new segmented organisms are added to the roster. Recent work in this journal by Brena and Akam on segmentation of the geophilomorph centipede Strigamia maritima, an arthropod distantly related to the standard insect models, contains developmental and evolutionary surprises that highlight the importance of a wider sampling of phyla.See research article: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7007/11/112.
