Body shape has a fundamental impact on organismal function, but it is unknown how functional morphology and locomotor performance and kinematics relate across a diverse array of body shapes. We showed that although patterns of body shape evolution differed considerably between lizards of the Phrynosomatinae and Lerista, patterns of locomotor evolution coincided between clades. Specifically, we found that the phrynosomatines evolved a stocky phenotype through body widening and limb shortening, whereas Lerista evolved elongation through body lengthening and limb shortening. In both clades, relative limb length played a key role in locomotor evolution and kinematic strategies, with long-limbed species moving faster and taking longer strides. In Lerista, the body axis also influenced locomotor evolution. Similar patterns of locomotor evolution were likely due to constraints on how the body can move. However, these common patterns of locomotor evolution between the two clades resulted in different kinematic strategies and levels of performance among species because of their morphological differences. Furthermore, we found no evidence that distinct body shapes are adaptations to different substrates, as locomotor kinematics did not change on loose or solid substrates. Our findings illustrate the importance of studying kinematics to understand the mechanisms of locomotor evolution and phenotype-function relationships.

1. Amphibians are suffering population declines globally, and understanding how environmental parameters influence their thermal and moisture preferences and performance at various tasks is crucial to understanding how these animals will be influenced by climate change. 2. Body temperature and hydration affect organismal performance at many fitness-related tasks. Since amphibians are ectotherms with highly water-permeable skin, environmental temperature and moisture directly affect their body temperature and hydration. Therefore, amphibians should select habitats with the optimal combination of temperature and moisture to perform tasks necessary for survival. However, interactions between environmental temperature and moisture can influence habitat selection and task performance in different and often unpredictable ways, and this has only infrequently been considered. 3. We tested for interactions between environmental temperature, moisture and organismal hydration on temperature and moisture preferences and jumping performance in green frogs (Lithobates clamitans) in the laboratory, using thermal and moisture gradients, and high-speed video and force plate data. We then integrated the laboratory experiments with field data. 4. In the thermal and moisture gradients, frogs selected environmental conditions that minimized cutaneous evaporative water loss, hydroregulating more stringently than thermoregulating. These results are consistent with frogs in the field, which had highly variable body temperatures, but were always hydrated above 95% of their standard mass. However, conditions that minimized evaporative water loss frequently did not maximize jumping performance because warmer temperatures conferred greater performance. 5. The ecology of L. clamitans may explain the discrepancy between their preferences and jumping performance optima because the frogs remain in wet environments that serve as refuges from dehydration. In parts of their range where frogs are subjected to warmer and drier conditions, they are likely to select microhabitats that minimize the risk of dehydration, possibly at the expense of their ability to forage and escape from predators.

Fungal decomposition of plant cell walls (PCW) is a complex process that has diverse industrial applications and huge impacts on the carbon cycle. White rot (WR) is a powerful mode of PCW decay in which lignin and carbohydrates are both degraded. Mechanistic studies of decay coupled with comparative genomic analyses have provided clues to the enzymatic components of WR systems and their evolutionary origins, but the complete suite of genes necessary for WR remains undetermined. Here, we use phylogenomic comparative methods, which we validate through simulations, to identify shifts in gene family diversification rates that are correlated with evolution of WR, using data from 62 fungal genomes. We detected 409 gene families that appear to be evolutionarily correlated with WR. The identified gene families encode well-characterized decay enzymes, e.g., fungal class II peroxidases and cellobiohydrolases, and enzymes involved in import and detoxification pathways, as well as 73 gene families that have no functional annotation. About 310 of the 409 identified gene families are present in the genome of the model WR fungus Phanerochaete chrysosporium and 192 of these (62%) have been shown to be upregulated under ligninolytic culture conditions, which corroborates the phylogeny-based functional inferences. These results illuminate the complexity of WR and suggest that its evolution has involved a general elaboration of the decay apparatus, including numerous gene families with as-yet unknown exact functions.

Convergent evolution of phenotypes is considered evidence that evolution is deterministic. Establishing if such convergent phenotypes arose through convergent evolutionary pathways is a stronger test of determinism. We studied the evolution of snake‐like body shapes in six clades of lizards, each containing species ranging from short‐bodied and pentadactyl to long‐bodied and limbless. We tested whether body shapes that evolved in each clade were convergent, and whether clades evolved snake‐like body shapes following convergent evolutionary pathways. Our analyses showed that indeed species with the same numbers of digits in each clade evolved convergent body shapes. We then compared evolutionary pathways among clades by considering patterns of evolutionary integration and shape of relationship among body parts, patterns of vertebral evolution, and models of digit evolution. We found that all clades elongated their bodies through the addition, not elongation, of vertebrae, and had similar patterns of integration. However, patterns of integration, the body parts that were related by a linear or a threshold model, and patterns of digit evolution differed among clades. These results showed that clades followed different evolutionary pathways. This suggests an important role of historical contingency as opposed to determinism in the convergent evolution of snake‐like body shapes.