Data from: Cellular and molecular mechanisms that shape the development and evolution of tail vertebral proportion in mice and jerboas

Limbs and vertebrae elongate by endochondral ossification, but local
growth control is highly modular, such that not all bones are the same
length. Compared to limbs, which have a different evolutionary and
developmental origin, far less is known about how individual vertebrae
establish proportion. Using the jerboa and mouse tail skeletons, we find
that cell number is a common driver of limb and vertebral proportion in
both species. However, chondrocyte hypertrophy, which is a major driver of
proportion in all mammal limbs, is limited to the extreme disproportionate
growth of jerboa mid-tail vertebrae. The genes associated with
differential growth in the vertebral skeleton overlap significantly, but
not substantially, with genes associated with limb proportion. Among
shared candidates, loss of Natriuretic Peptide Receptor 3 in mice causes
disproportionate elongation of the proximal and mid-tail vertebrae, in
addition to the proximal limb. Our findings, therefore, reveal cellular
processes that tune the growth of individual vertebrae while also
identifying natriuretic peptide signaling among genetic control mechanisms
that shape the entire skeleton.