Galis, Frietson

1 publication

Galis, Frietson (detail)
1999Why do almost all mammals have seven cervical vertebrae? Developmental constraints, Hox genes, and cancer.
Jour. Exper. Zool. (Mol. Dev. Evol.) 285(1): 19-26. 1 tab. 3 figs. Apr. 15, 1999.
—Suggests that reduction of number of cervical vertebrae in manatees and sloths is permitted by their low metabolic rates, which lower their susceptibility to oxidative DNA damage and cancer that might otherwise result from mutations in the Hox genes controlling vertebral number.