Observations on the histochemistry and ultrastructure of the epidermis of the tuatara, Sphenodon punctatus (Sphenodontida, Lepidosauria, Reptilia): a contribution to an understanding of the lepidosaurian epidermal generation and the evolutionary origin of the squamate shedding complex.

Histochemical and TEM analysis of the epidermis of Sphenodon punctatus confirms previous histological studies showing that skin-shedding in this relic species involves the periodic production and loss of epidermal generations, as has been well documented in the related Squamata. The generations are basically similar to those that have been described in the latter, and their formation involves a cyclic alternation between beta- and alpha-keratogenesis. The six differences from the previously described squamate condition revealed by this study include: 1) the absence of a well-defined shedding complex; 2) the persistence of plasma membranes throughout the mature beta-layer, including the oberhautchen; 3) the concomitant presence of lipogenic lamellar bodies and PAS-positive mucous granules in most presumptive alpha-keratinizing cells; 4) the presence of the secreted contents of these organelles in the intercellular domains of the three derived tissues, the homologues of the squamate mesos, alpha-, and lacunar cells; 5) the paucity of lamellated lipid deposits in such domains; 6) the presence of keratohyalin-like granules (KHLG) in the presumptive lacunar, clear, and oberhautchen cells. In toto, the absence of many of the precisely definable, different pathways of cytogenesis discernible during squamate epidermal generation production might be interpreted as primitive for lepidosaurs. However, when the evolutionary significance of each of the six differences listed is evaluated separately, it becomes clear that the epidermis of S. punctatus possesses primitive amniote, shared and derived lepidosaurian, and some unique characters. This evaluation further elucidates the concept of a lepidosaurian epidermal generation as a derived manifestation of the sauropsid synapomorphy of vertical alternation of keratin synthesis and shows that further study of keratinocyte differentiation in the tuatara may contribute to our understanding of the origin and evolution of beta-keratinization in sauropsid amniotes. Copyright 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc.