Many animals depend on the sense of vision for survival. In eumetazoans, vision requires
specialized, light-sensitive cells called photoreceptors. Light reaches the photoreceptors …

Sensory systems provide valuable insight into the evolution of molecular mechanisms
underlying organismal anatomy, physiology, and behaviour. Visual pigments, which mediate …

Snakes are a remarkable squamate lineage with unique morphological adaptations,
especially those related to the evolution of vertebrate skeletons, organs, and sensory …

Colubridae represents the most phenotypically diverse and speciose family of snakes, yet
no well-assembled and annotated genome exists for this lineage. Here, we report and …

Although typically possessing four limbs and short bodies, lizards have evolved diverse
morphologies, including elongate trunks with tiny limbs. Such forms are hypothesized to aid …

Opsin proteins are fundamental components of animal vision whose structure largely
determines the sensitivity of visual pigments to different wavelengths of light. Surprisingly …

The phylogenetic relationships between the three main clades of worm snakes remain
controversial. This question is, however, crucial to elucidate the origin of the successful …

Mass extinctions have repeatedly shaped global biodiversity. The Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-
Pg) mass extinction caused the demise of numerous vertebrate groups, and its aftermath …

Detecting the genomic changes underlying phenotypic changes between species is a main
goal of evolutionary biology and genomics. Evolutionary theory predicts that changes in cis …

Snakes are a diverse group of squamate reptiles characterized by a unique feeding system
and other traits associated with elongation and limblessness. Despite the description of …