PONE-D-19-31153

Gross anatomy, histology and blood vessel topography of the alimentary canal of the Inland Bearded Dragon (Pogona vitticeps)

PLOS ONE

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This was a well written manuscript. The authors have done a very good job. . I have no comments beyond what Reviewer 1 and Reviewer 2 noted in their respective reviews.

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Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

1. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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2. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #1: N/A

Reviewer #2: N/A

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Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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5. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)

Reviewer #1: The authors are to be commended for producing a well illustrated and well organized anatomical paper. The fact that multiple individual individuals of both sexes were used and that individual variations were noted is also to be commended. This paper contributes significant information about the anatomy of the blood supply in bearded dragons. Since these are some of the most common lizards in the captivity, this information is very useful. I have attached a copy of the manuscript with a few comments, including a few editorial suggestions and possible extra figures to include. I have also suggested a rewrite of the paragraphs describing veins to show their inherent difference from arteries. However, my overall impression is that this paper is well researched, well annotated and well written with little need for revision.

Reviewer #2: Line 108. Change the label of the testicle in the gross image. It is labeled “K”. I would switch the liver and testicle letters. Many practitioners easily forget that the kidneys in bearded dragons are within the pelvis. If they glance at the image, they will immediately think K=Kidney.

Line 139: If there are only two lobes of the pancreas, this should be noted.

Line 142: Is the spleen at the cranial end of the dorsal or ventral pancreatic lobe.

Line 150 to 157 and 167. Are there approximate measurements to these ‘larger, smaller, longer’ descriptions? I realize this might not be possible given the range in size of the females. The male specimens seem to be approximately the same size. Or maybe there is some way to give the reader a guesstimate: ‘the jejunum was about twice as long as the duodenum’. ‘The duodenum is ¼ larger in diameter than the jejunum.’ You do provide a measurement for the caecal diverticulum.

260 to 261: I want to make sure I understood this….the ‘smaller veins from the’ or the ‘further large vein left’ of the ‘cranial mesenteric vein’ drains the pancreas (both lobes?) and the spleen? I am unclear about ‘this branch’ arose form the caudal mesenteric vein (in two out of seven animals).

327 and 563: Ventriculus? Do bearded dragons have a ventriculus? Is there a reference for this? I thought this was only in crocodiles and alligators.

I really like the images!

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Reviewer #1: Yes: Ray Wilhite

Reviewer #2: No

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Attachments

Attachment

Submitted filename: PONE-D-19-31153_Engelke, et al wilhite comments.pdf

Gross anatomy, histology and blood vessel topography of the alimentary canal of the Inland Bearded Dragon (Pogona vitticeps)

PONE-D-19-31153R1

Dear Dr. Engelke,

We are pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been judged scientifically suitable for publication and will be formally accepted for publication once it complies with all outstanding technical requirements.

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Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

1. If the authors have adequately addressed your comments raised in a previous round of review and you feel that this manuscript is now acceptable for publication, you may indicate that here to bypass the “Comments to the Author” section, enter your conflict of interest statement in the “Confidential to Editor” section, and submit your "Accept" recommendation.

Reviewer #1: All comments have been addressed

Reviewer #2: All comments have been addressed

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2. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

3. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #1: N/A

Reviewer #2: N/A

**********

4. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available?

The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

5. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English?

PLOS ONE does not copyedit accepted manuscripts, so the language in submitted articles must be clear, correct, and unambiguous. Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

6. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)

Reviewer #1: I very much appreciate the author's efforts at addressing the reviewer comments. The vein section, in particular, is greatly improved by the resdescription.

Reviewer #2: (No Response)

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7. PLOS authors have the option to publish the peer review history of their article (what does this mean?). If published, this will include your full peer review and any attached files.

If you choose “no”, your identity will remain anonymous but your review may still be made public.

Do you want your identity to be public for this peer review? For information about this choice, including consent withdrawal, please see our Privacy Policy.

Reviewer #1: Yes: Ray Wilhite

Reviewer #2: No