Amphibians, ie salamanders, frogs and caecilians show a wide range of bright colours in
combination with contrasting patterns. There is variation among species, populations and …

Soils are integral to agricultural productivity, biodiversity, and the maintenance of ecosystem
services. However, soil ecosystem research depends on foundational biological knowledge …

The initial evolution of warning signals in unprofitable prey, termed aposematism, is often
seen as a paradox because any new conspicuous mutant would be easier to detect than its …

Insights into morphological diversification can be obtained from the ways the species of a
clade occupy morphospace. Projecting a phylogeny into morphospace provides estimates of …

A critical function of animal coloration is avoiding attack, either by warning predators or
reducing detectability. Evolution of these divergent strategies may depend on prey …

The “escape-and-radiate” hypothesis predicts that antipredator defenses facilitate adaptive
radiations by enabling escape from constraints of predation, diversified habitat use, and …

This chapter reviews the diversity, evolutionary relationships, ecology, and conservation of
the Gulf of Guinea oceanic islands' endemic caecilian and anuran fauna. A total of nine …

Background Our current understanding of vertebrate skin and gut microbiomes, and their
vertical transmission, remains incomplete as major lineages and varied forms of parental …

This book presents perspectives on the past and present state of the understanding of snake
origins. It reviews and critiques data and ideas from paleontology and neontology …

The dorsal surfaces of many taxonomic groups often feature repetitive pattern elements
consisting of stripes, spots, or bands. Here, we investigate how distinct categories of …