Morphological disparity opposes latitudinal diversity gradient in lacertid lizards.

Abstract excerpt

While global variation in taxonomic diversity is strongly linked to latitude, the extent to which morphological disparity follows geographical gradients is less well known. We estimated patterns of lineage diversification, morphological disparity and rates of phenotypic evolution in the Old World lizard family Lacertidae, which displays a nearly inverse latitudinal diversity gradient with decreasing species...

Topics

• Animals
• Biological Evolution
• Geography
• Lizards
• Phenotype