Ontogenetic shifts in the snake heart topography are mostly associated with their life habits and physiological adaptations due to modifications of complex functional-adaptative and developmental constraints. However, such studies are incipient for scolecophidians, and the presence of shifts putatively related to physiological mechanisms are still unexplored for this group. We aimed to evaluate the presence of topological shifts in heart position and the allometry of heart/chambers total length in Amerotyphlops brongersmianus. Our results indicate that there is a craniad ontogenetic shift of the heart position related to total length increase. Heart total length and their chambers also grow isometrically in relation to head and total body length. We discuss the possible functional and evolutionary perspectives of our results with comparison to data available for alethinophidan snakes. We hypothesize the anterior displacement of organs possibly remains as an ancestral state to compensate reproductive constraints imposed by the ancestral scolecoid miniaturized body.

中文翻译：

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Amerotyphlops brongersmianus (Vanzolini, 1976) (Typhlopidae, Serpentes) 作为心脏形貌和相对大小的 scolecophidian 个体发生变化的模型

由于复杂的功能适应性和发育限制的改变，蛇心形貌的个体发生变化主要与它们的生活习惯和生理适应有关。然而，此类研究对于蝾螈的研究尚处于起步阶段，并且对于该群体而言，与生理机制有关的转变的存在仍未得到探索。我们旨在评估 Amerotyphlops brongersmianus 心脏位置的拓扑变化和心脏/心室总长度的异速生长。我们的结果表明，与总长度增加相关的心脏位置存在颅骨个体发生变化。心脏总长度及其腔室也相对于头部和身体总长等距增长。我们通过与 alethinophidan 蛇的可用数据进行比较来讨论我们的结果可能的功能和进化观点。我们假设器官的前移可能仍是一种祖先状态，以补偿祖先椎体小型化身体强加的生殖限制。