Table 1.
Brain regions containing arginine vasotocin (AVT) cells in different amphibian and reptile species.
| Group | Species | Family | Dp | Mp | Lp | Ms | Ls | NAcc | Str | Ma | BNST | POA/PVN-SON | SCN | AH | VM/VL | Midbrain | Hindbrain | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amphibians | ||||||||||||||||||
| Urodela (newts and salamanders) | Pleurodeles waltl | Salamandridae | x | x | x (1) | González and Smeets (6) | ||||||||||||
| Taricha granulosa | Salamandridae | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x (2) (3) | x (1) (4) | Lowry et al. (7) | |||||||
| Plethodon shermani | Plethodontidae | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x (5) | x (1) (6) | Hollis et al. (8) | |||||||
| T. granulosa | Salamandridae | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x (5) (2) | x (1) (6) | Hollis et al. (8) | ||||||
| Anura (toads ad frogs) | Rana temporaria | Ranidae | x | Vandesande and Dierickx (9) | ||||||||||||||
| Rana esculenta (=Pelophylax bedriagae) | Ranidae | x | Vandesande and Dierickx (9) | |||||||||||||||
| Bubo bufo | Bufonidae | x | Vandesande and Dierickx (9) | |||||||||||||||
| Bubo japonicus | Bufonidae | x | Jokura and Urano (10, 11) | |||||||||||||||
| Xenopus laevis | Pipidae | x | x | x | x | x | x (7) | González and Smeets (6, 12) | ||||||||||
| Rana ridibunda (=Pelophylax ridibundus) | Ranidae | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x (3) | x (8) | González and Smeets (6) | |||||||
| Rana catesbeiana (=Lithobates catesbeianus) | Ranidae | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x (9) | Boyd et al. (13) | ||||||||
| Acris crepitans | Hylidae | x | x | x | x | x | Marler et al. (14) | |||||||||||
| Hyla cinerea | Hylidae | x | x | x | O’Bryant and Wilczynski (15) | |||||||||||||
| H. cinerea | Hylidae | x | x | x | x | x | x | Lutterschmidt and Wilczynski (16) | ||||||||||
| H. cinerea | Hylidae | x | x | x | x | x | x | Howard and Lutterschmidt (17) | ||||||||||
| Reptiles | ||||||||||||||||||
| Squamata (lizards) | Lacerta muralis | Lacertidae | x | Bons (18) | ||||||||||||||
| Acanthodactylus paradis | Lacertidae | x | Bons (18) | |||||||||||||||
| Acanthodactylus boskianus | Lacertidae | x | Bons (18) | |||||||||||||||
| Tarentola mauritanica | Gekkonidae | x | Bons (18) | |||||||||||||||
| Gekko gecko | Gekkonidae | x | x | x(10) | Stoll and Voorn (19) | |||||||||||||
| G. gecko | Gekkonidae | x | x | x(10) | Thepen et al. (20) | |||||||||||||
| Anolis carolinensis | Dactyloidae | x | x | x | x | x (3) | Propper et al. (21, 22) | |||||||||||
| A. carolinensis | Dactyloidae | x | x | Hattori and Wilczynski (23) | ||||||||||||||
| Anolis sagrei | Dactyloidae | x | x | Kabelik et al. (24) | ||||||||||||||
| Cnemidophorus uniparens (=Aspidoscelis uniparens) | Teiidae | x | x | x | Hillsman et al. (25) | |||||||||||||
| Urosaurus ornatus | Phrynosomatidae | x | x | Kabelik et al. (26) | ||||||||||||||
| Squamata (snakes) | Natrix maura | Natricidae | x | Fernández-Llebrez et al. (27) | ||||||||||||||
| Python regius | Pythonidae | x | x | Smeets et al. (28) | ||||||||||||||
| Bothrops jararaca | Viperidae | x | Silveira et al. (29) | |||||||||||||||
| Testudines (turtles) | Pseudemys scripta (=Trachemys scripta) | Emydidae | x | x | Smeets et al. (28) | |||||||||||||
| Mauremys caspica | Geoemydidae | x | Fernández-Llebrez et al. (27) | |||||||||||||||
The presence of AVT cells is indicated by x under the corresponding nuclei, which are listed in rostrocaudal order. POA includes the entire preoptic area for amphibians. We combined POA with the more caudal nuclei the PVN and SON in a single column, as reports in amphibians do not generally distinguish separate POA/PVN/SON areas; and whereas recent work on lizards indicate AVT-immunoreactive cells to be in distinctly separate PVN and SON nuclei, earlier studies in reptiles do not always clearly make that distinction. In the midbrain and hindbrain columns, the numbers in parentheses indicate specific regions in which AVT cells are found: (1) nucleus isthmi, (2) torus semicircularis (inferior colliculus), (3) interpeduncularis nucleus, (4) lateral auricle area, (5) optic tectum, (6) eminentia trigemini, (7) an area dorsolateral to oculomotor nucleus, (8) nucleus of the solitary tract, (9) pretrigeminal nucleus, (10) nucleus reticularis. We emphasize that the lack of reported AVT cells and fibers should be considered very cautiously, as it can be due to any number of technical differences across species and labs and could reflect the variable nature of AVT densities related to particular social or seasonal conditions (see Anatomical Variation by Group, Sex, and Season) rather than a strict species trait, or simply that the particular published study did not investigate that area. See abbreviation section for abbreviations used.