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Effects of the environment on the evolution of the vertebrate urinary tract

Nature Reviews Urology volume 20, pages 719–738 (2023)Cite this article

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Abstract

Evolution of the vertebrate urinary system occurs in response to numerous selective pressures, which have been incompletely characterized. Developing research into urinary evolution led to the occurrence of clinical applications and insights in paediatric urology, reproductive medicine, urolithiasis and other domains. Each nephron segment and urinary organ has functions that can be contextualized within an evolutionary framework. For example, the structure and function of the glomerulus and proximal tubule are highly conserved, enabling blood cells and proteins to be retained, and facilitating the elimination of oceanic Ca+ and Mg+. Urea emerged as an osmotic mediator during evolution, as cells of large organisms required increased precision in the internal regulation of salinity and solutes. As the first vertebrates moved from water to land, acid–base regulation was shifted from gills to skin and kidneys in amphibians. In reptiles and birds, solute regulation no longer occurred through the skin but through nasal salt glands and post-renally, within the cloaca and the rectum. In placental mammals, nasal salt glands are absent and the rectum and urinary tracts became separate, which limited post-renal urine concentration and led to the necessity of a kidney capable of high urine concentration. Considering the evolutionary and environmental selective pressures that have contributed to renal evolution can help to gain an increased understanding of renal physiology.

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Fig. 1: Schematic representation of a human nephron.
Fig. 2: The embryonic kidney.
Fig. 3: Phylogenetic tree of vertebrate nephron evolution.
Fig. 4: Structure of the tetrapod urinary system.

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Acknowledgements

Assistance with the preparation of Fig. 1 was provided by R. Sager and M. Mollapour.

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    Scott V. Wiener

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Glossary

Ammoniotelic

A type of nitrogen excretion that forms ammonia, a waste product of protein metabolism that is soluble in water, often freely diffused into the environment.

Anadromous

Migratory fish species that hatch in fresh water and migrate to the ocean until they return to freshwater rivers and streams to reproduce.

Anamniotic

An organism that lacks an amniotic sac, such as fish and amphibians. Typically, these organisms rely on aqueous environments to facilitate the process of reproduction and embryonic development.

Brackish water

Water with a salinity level higher than fresh water but lower than seawater, often in estuaries where freshwater rivers meet the ocean.

Coelacanths

Fish species constituting a lineage of lobe-finned fish, considered substantial transitional life forms relating to understanding the evolutionary transition from fish to tetrapods.

Euryhaline

Fish capable of tolerating a wide range of salinity levels.

Gnathostomes

A group of jawed vertebrates including fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals with hinged jaws, different from lampreys and hagfish.

Mesic species

Organisms adapted to moderate moisture conditions.

Müllerian

The Müllerian ducts are embryological structures that develop into the uterus, fallopian tubes and upper vagina.

Myxinids

A group of jawless fish, including hagfish.

Opisthonephros

The functional kidney in cyclostomes, fish and amphibians, which consists of mainly mesonephric structures, but contains tubules from the posterior nephric ridge.

Rhipidistian fish

The ancestral form of the earliest tetrapod, which resided in waters with at least some salinity during the early Devonian period.

Ureotelism

A type of nitrogen excretion that results in the formation of urea, a waste product of purine metabolism excreted by the kidneys.

Wolffian

The Wolffian duct is an embryological structure that develops into the epididymis, vas deferens and seminal vesicles; a derivative of the archinephric (pronephric) duct.

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Wiener, S.V. Effects of the environment on the evolution of the vertebrate urinary tract. Nat Rev Urol 20, 719–738 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41585-023-00794-3

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