ABSTRACT
New immunohistochemical methods permit more precise analysis of patterns of prechondrogenesis in developing limbs of amphibians and for comparison in the paired fins of a teleost fish. The monoclonal antibody 3B3 was used to map the distribution of chondroitin-6-SO4, a molecular marker of the prechondrogenic condensations. Thus we analysed early endoskeletal patterning of the paired fin buds in the zebra fish (Danio) and of the limb buds of two urodeles (Salamandrella, a hynobiid basal urodele, and the axolotl, an advanced form) and of the anuran, Xenopus. The overall aim was to throw light on the developmental basis of tetrapod limb evolution.
