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Contrasting models of parity‐mode evolution in squamate reptiles
Author(s) -
Pyron R. Alexander,
Burbrink Frank T.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of experimental zoology part b: molecular and developmental evolution
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.823
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1552-5015
pISSN - 1552-5007
DOI - 10.1002/jez.b.22593
Subject(s) - biology , evolutionary biology , fossil record , zoology , key (lock) , ecology
Recent analyses using large‐scale phylogenies suggest a radically different history for the evolution of live birth and egg laying in squamate reptiles (lizards and snakes) than traditionally understood. What is the ancestral condition for lizards and snakes? How frequently does live bearing evolve in egg‐laying lineages? Can the eggshell ever re‐evolve in live‐bearing lineages? Answering these fundamental questions about the evolution of key physiological processes will require additional data from genomic, developmental, and fossil data. J. Exp. Zool. (Mol. Dev. Evol.) 324B: 467–472, 2015 . © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.