2018
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-02788-3
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The ecological origins of snakes as revealed by skull evolution

Abstract: The ecological origin of snakes remains amongst the most controversial topics in evolution, with three competing hypotheses: fossorial; marine; or terrestrial. Here we use a geometric morphometric approach integrating ecological, phylogenetic, paleontological, and developmental data for building models of skull shape and size evolution and developmental rate changes in squamates. Our large-scale data reveal that whereas the most recent common ancestor of crown snakes had a small skull with a shape undeniably a… Show more

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Cited by 101 publications
(113 citation statements)
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References 66 publications
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“…High‐resolution computed tomography (CT)‐scans of early embryonic stages of P. vitticeps , A. carolinensis , and P. guttatus at the oviposition stage were obtained from our previous works (Da Silva et al, ; Ollonen et al, ), while late stages were newly produced at the University of Helsinki or University of Kuopio imaging facilities in Finland using Skyscan 1272 or 1172 microCT, respectively. To visualize eye development, soft tissue of fixed embryos was first stained with 0.6% phosphotungstic acid (PTA) in ethanol, as described before (Metscher, ), before scanning using the following parameters: voltage: 59–70 kV; current: 142–167 μA; voxel size: 3.5–10 μm.…”
Section: Methodsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…High‐resolution computed tomography (CT)‐scans of early embryonic stages of P. vitticeps , A. carolinensis , and P. guttatus at the oviposition stage were obtained from our previous works (Da Silva et al, ; Ollonen et al, ), while late stages were newly produced at the University of Helsinki or University of Kuopio imaging facilities in Finland using Skyscan 1272 or 1172 microCT, respectively. To visualize eye development, soft tissue of fixed embryos was first stained with 0.6% phosphotungstic acid (PTA) in ethanol, as described before (Metscher, ), before scanning using the following parameters: voltage: 59–70 kV; current: 142–167 μA; voxel size: 3.5–10 μm.…”
Section: Methodsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…In recent years, morphometric studies on cranial shape and comparative investigations of developmental processes have been combined to understand cranial evolution in many vertebrate lineages . This allowed for a more detailed and mechanistic understanding of the observed evolutionary diversity patterns .…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…23 In recent years, morphometric studies on cranial shape and comparative investigations of developmental processes have been combined to understand cranial evolution in many vertebrate lineages. [24][25][26][27][28][29][30] This allowed for a more detailed and mechanistic understanding of the observed evolutionary diversity patterns. 23,31,32 These types of studies often revealed heterochrony, a change in the timing or order of ancestral developmental events, as an important mechanism for producing evolutionary changes in morphology, 33,34 resulting in hypermature descendants (peramorphosis) or juvenilized (paedomorphosis) versions of their ancestor.…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Although our results have to be considered with caution given the relatively low number of strictly fossorial clades connected at the base of the snake tree, they are overall compatible with the hypothesis according to which worm snakes might represent a very ancient phenotype inherited from the last common ancestor of extant snakes. Our results are also compatible with those published in a recent study integrating multiple approaches (ecology, palaeontology, development) in order to build models of skull shape changes in squamates (Da Silva et al ., ). This recent work–which also considered the paraphyly of scolecoid snakes as a working hypothesis–revealed that the most recent common ancestor of crown snakes likely had a small skull with a shape undeniably adapted for fossoriality, whereas all snakes plus their sister group derive from a surface‐terrestrial form.…”
Section: Discussionmentioning
confidence: 97%
“…More interestingly, the phylomorphospace analysis provided by Da Silva et al . () indicates that worm snakes radiated from a less‐specialized (although fossorial) skull shape, suggesting that these snakes are probably not ideal in representing the skull condition of the last common ancestor of extant snakes. Nevertheless, their skull shape appears to be closer to the hypothetical ancestral snake skull than any other species of snake.…”
Section: Discussionmentioning
confidence: 99%