Macroecological and biogeographical patterns of limb reduction in the world's skinks

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dc.contributor.authorCamaiti, M.
dc.contributor.authorEvans, A.R.
dc.contributor.authorHipsley, C.A.
dc.contributor.authorHutchinson, M.N.
dc.contributor.authorMeiri, S.
dc.contributor.authorde Oliveira Anderson, R.
dc.contributor.authorSlavenko, A.
dc.contributor.authorChapple, D.G.
dc.date.issued2023
dc.descriptionFirst published: 08 December 2022
dc.description.abstractAim: Limb reduction is a dramatic evolutionary transition, yet whether it is achieved in similar trajectories across clades, and its environmental drivers, remain unclear. We investigate the macroevolutionary and biogeographical patterns of limb reduction in skinks, where limb reduction occurred more often than in any other tetrapod clade, and test their associations with substrate categories using a global database. We test for habitat associations of body shapes in a group of Australian skinks using quantitative habitat data. Location: Global (Scincidae), Australia (Sphenomorphinae). Taxon: Skinks, Australian Sphenomorphinae. Materials and Methods: We use morphological data to explore the patterns of limb reduction in the world's skinks, investigating how body proportions differ across skink clades and subfamilies. We examine the relationships between body shape and substrate (coarsely classified). Further, we investigate the relationships between body shape and high-resolution soil and climate properties extracted from each species' distribution for Australian sphenomorphines. Results: Relationships between limb lengths and trunk elongation show idiosyncratic patterns across skink clades. Presacral vertebrae numbers positively correlate with trunk elongation in all taxa, except Glaphyromorphus. Skinks from sandy habitats show greater disparity between forelimb and hindlimb lengths than all other substrate categories. In sphenomorphines, shorter limbs and elongated trunks correlate with colder, more humid microhabitats and richer soils; high limb disparity correlates with hot, arid microhabitats and sandy, poor substrates. Main Conclusions: The evolutionary trajectories of limb reduction in skinks are cladespecific and sometimes unique. Selection for specific limb proportions and body sizes in limb-reduced forms changes across substrates. On poor, sandy substrates of arid environments, body shapes with longer hindlimbs may be more efficient for locomotion in a granular fluid (i.e. sand) and exploit the air–substrate interface than complete limblessness. On richer, more humid substrates, such morphology is rare, indicating that navigating cluttered substrates selects for more equal and shorter limb lengths.
dc.description.statementofresponsibilityMarco Camaiti, Alistair R. Evans, Christy A. Hipsley, Mark N. Hutchinson, Shai Meiri, Rodolfo de Oliveira Anderson, Alex Slavenko, David G. Chapple
dc.identifier.citationJournal of Biogeography, 2023; 50(2):428-440
dc.identifier.doi10.1111/jbi.14547
dc.identifier.issn0305-0270
dc.identifier.issn1365-2699
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/2440/137221
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherWiley
dc.relation.granthttp://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/LP170100012
dc.relation.granthttp://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/FT200100108
dc.rights© 2022 The Authors. Journal of Biogeography published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.
dc.source.urihttps://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.14547
dc.subjectAustralian Sphenomorphinae; biogeography; ecomorphology; limb reduction; macroecology; morphological evolution; skinks
dc.titleMacroecological and biogeographical patterns of limb reduction in the world's skinks
dc.typeJournal article
pubs.publication-statusPublished

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