Arboreality constrains morphological evolution but not species diversification in vipers. 2017

Laura Rodrigues Vieira de Alencar, and Marcio Martins, and Gustavo Burin, and Tiago Bosisio Quental
Departamento de Ecologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, Rua do Matão, Travessa 14, Cidade Universitária, 05508-900 São Paulo, SP, Brazil alencarlrv@gmail.com.

An increase in ecological opportunities, either through changes in the environment or acquisition of new traits, is frequently associated with an increase in species and morphological diversification. However, it is possible that certain ecological settings might prevent lineages from diversifying. Arboreality evolved multiple times in vipers, making them ideal organisms for exploring how potentially new ecological opportunities affect their morphology and speciation regimes. Arboreal snakes are frequently suggested to have a very specialized morphology, and being too large, too small, too heavy, or having short tails might be challenging for them. Using trait-evolution models, we show that arboreal vipers are evolving towards intermediate body sizes, with longer tails and more slender bodies than terrestrial vipers. Arboreality strongly constrains body size and circumference evolution in vipers, while terrestrial lineages are evolving towards a broader range of morphological variants. Trait-dependent diversification models, however, suggest similar speciation rates between microhabitats. Thus, we show that arboreality might constrain morphological evolution but not necessarily affect the rates at which lineages generate new species.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D008124 Locomotion Movement or the ability to move from one place or another. It can refer to humans, vertebrate or invertebrate animals, and microorganisms. Locomotor Activity,Activities, Locomotor,Activity, Locomotor,Locomotor Activities
D005075 Biological Evolution The process of cumulative change over successive generations through which organisms acquire their distinguishing morphological and physiological characteristics. Evolution, Biological
D000818 Animals Unicellular or multicellular, heterotrophic organisms, that have sensation and the power of voluntary movement. Under the older five kingdom paradigm, Animalia was one of the kingdoms. Under the modern three domain model, Animalia represents one of the many groups in the domain EUKARYOTA. Animal,Metazoa,Animalia
D014197 Trees Woody, usually tall, perennial higher plants (Angiosperms, Gymnosperms, and some Pterophyta) having usually a main stem and numerous branches. Tree
D017753 Ecosystem A functional system which includes the organisms of a natural community together with their environment. (McGraw Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 4th ed) Ecosystems,Biome,Ecologic System,Ecologic Systems,Ecological System,Habitat,Niche, Ecological,System, Ecological,Systems, Ecological,Biomes,Ecological Niche,Ecological Systems,Habitats,System, Ecologic,Systems, Ecologic
D049628 Body Size The physical measurements of a body. Body Sizes,Size, Body,Sizes, Body
D017819 Viperidae A family of snakes comprising four subfamilies: Azemiopinae (the mountain viper, the sole member of this subfamily), Viperinae (true vipers), Crotalinae (pit vipers) and Causinae. They are widespread throughout the world, being found in the United States, Central and South America, Europe, Asia and Africa. Their venoms act on the blood (hemotoxic) as compared to the venom of elapids which act on the nervous system (neurotoxic). (Goin, Goin, and Zug, Introduction to Herpetology, 3d ed, pp333-36) Asp,Bushmaster,European Viper,Azemiopinae,European Adder,Adder, European,Asps,Bushmasters,European Adders,European Vipers,Viper, European

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