Atavisms and the homology of hyobranchial elements in lower vertebrates

The homology of branchial arch segments in salamanders has been a matter of controversy since the last century. Many investigators term the most medial paired elements of salamander branchial arches "ceratobranchials" and the next distal paired elements "epibranchials." This suggests that the first two segmental elements of the salamander branchial arch are not homologous with elements occupying the same position in ray-finned fishes, Latimeria, "rhipidistians," and lungfishes, in which these bones are called hypobranchials and ceratobranchials, respectively. Three lines of evidence suggest that it is more parsimonious to interpret urodele branchial arch segments as being homologous with those of other vertebrate clades-(1) comparative osteology, (2) comparative myology, and (3) the discovery of cartilaginous structures forming a third segmental unit that we interpret as atavistic epibranchials of the branchial arch in one population of the salamander Notophthalmus viridescens. These structures possess all the defining attributes of atavisms, and illustrate the special role that atavistic features play in resolving questions of homology recognition.