Understanding how phenotypic divergence arises among natural populations remains one of the major goals in evolutionary biology. As part of competitive exclusion experiment conducted in 1971, 10 individuals of Italian wall lizard ( Podarcis siculus (Rafinesque‐Schmaltz, 1810)) were transplanted from Pod Kopište Island to the nearby island of Pod Mrčaru (Adriatic Sea). Merely 35 years after the introduction, the newly establish...

Aim Viviparity has evolved more times in squamates than in any other vertebrate group; therefore, squamates offer an excellent model system in which to study the patterns, drivers and implications of reproductive mode evolution. Based on current species distributions, we examined three selective forces hypothesized to drive the evolution of squamate viviparity (cold climate, variable climate and hypoxic conditions) and tested...

The planktonic Oikopleura dioica belongs to Tunicata, the probable sister taxon to Craniota, and might show plesiomorphic characters, conserved from the common lineage of Tunicata and Craniota. In O. dioica a pericardium in a position similar to other chordates but also to the heart and pericardium of craniates is found. Surprisingly, little is known about the ultrastructure of the pericardium in O. dioica . Here, we show base...

Aim Understanding the mechanisms determining species richness is a primary goal of biogeography. Richness patterns of sub‐groups within a taxon are usually assumed to be driven by similar processes. However, if richness of distinct ecological strategies respond differently to the same processes, inferences made for an entire taxon may be misleading. We deconstruct the global lizard assemblage into functional groups and examine...

Aim Lizards are ancestrally diurnal, and most of them remain so. Nocturnality is common among lizards, but the environmental factors associated with lizard nocturnal activity are still unknown. Here, we contrasted the ambient temperature and productivity hypotheses, where we predicted that cold temperatures will pose a stonger limit to nocturnal species richness than diurnal lizards. Moreover, we contrasted the relative import...

Aim The species population density–range size relationship posits that locally abundant species are widely distributed. However, this proposed pattern has been insufficiently tested. The few tests conducted were usually limited in scale and gave conflicting results. We tested the generality of the positive population density–range size relationship. We then studied whether similar environmental niche requirements are correlate...

Aim To map and assess the richness patterns of reptiles (and included groups: amphisbaenians, crocodiles, lizards, snakes and turtles) in Africa, quantify the overlap in species richness of reptiles (and included groups) with the other terrestrial vertebrate classes, investigate the environmental correlates underlying these patterns, and evaluate the role of range size on richness patterns. Location Africa. Methods We assemble...

Aim Islands organisms usually have fewer predator and competitor species than mainland ones. This is thought to result in high population densities on islands. We hypothesize that insular lizards have denser populations than mainland species and that density, in general, is negatively correlated with competitor and predator richness. Location Global. Methods We compared densities of 346 lizard species on islands and the mainla...

Aim Longevity is an important life‐history trait, directly linked to the core attributes of fitness (reproduction and survival), yet large‐scale comparative studies quantifying its implications for the ecology and life history of ectotherms are scarce. We tested the allometry of longevity in squamates and the tuatara, and determined how longevity is related to key environmental characteristics and life‐history traits. Predicti...

Aim The origins of islands influence island colonization and radiation dynamics, thus exerting differential selection pressures on the species that inhabit them. The occurrence of lower numbers of predator and competitor species on islands than the mainland selects for ‘slow’ life‐history attributes (the ‘island syndrome’). Animals colonizing, and radiating on, oceanic islands probably face more novel environments than do thos...

Aim Temperature influences most components of animal ecology and life history – but what kind of temperature? Physiologists usually examine the influence of body temperatures, while biogeographers and macroecologists tend to focus on environmental temperatures. We aim to examine the relationship between these two measures, to determine the factors that affect lizard body temperatures and to test the effect of both temperature...

Aim Islands are thought to promote correlated ecological and life‐history shifts in species, including increased population density, and an infrequent production of few, large, offspring. These patterns are collectively termed ‘the island syndrome’. We present here the first, phylogenetically informed, global test of the ‘island syndrome’ hypothesis, using lizards as our model organisms. Location World‐wide. Methods We assembl...