Evolutionary adaptations in the limb morphology of tropidurid lizards in response to sandy environments.

ABSTRACT: Different habitat types exert particular challenges to ecological performance, ultimately having a strong influence on the evolution of morphology. Although it is well known that external morphology can evolve under the selective pressure of habitat structure, the evolutionary response of internal morphological traits remains vastly unexplored. Here, we test for morphological divergence between arenicolous and nonarenicolous species in a clade of tropidurid lizards, considering external morphological proportions and limb muscle dimensions. We found that arenicolous species seem to have evolved internal and external morphological adaptations that separate them from other habitat specialists. Moreover, comparative analyses suggested that the traits that differed the most between arenicolous

SUBMITTER: Tulli MJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12547092 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature