Tropical East Asia is home to over one billion people and faces massive human impacts
from its rising population and rapid economic growth. It has already lost more than half of its …

The question about whether evolution is unpredictable and stochastic or intermittently
constrained along predictable pathways is the subject of a fundamental debate in biology, in …

Despite their long history with the basal split dating back to the Eocene, all species of
monitor lizards (family Varanidae) studied so far share the same chromosome number of 2 …

Monitor lizards are unique among ectothermic reptiles in that they have high aerobic
capacity and distinctive cardiovascular physiology resembling that of endothermic …

The sex chromosomes in Sauropsida (reptiles and birds) have evolved independently many
times. They show astonishing diversity in morphology ranging from cryptic to highly …

Organismal interactions drive the accumulation of diversity by influencing species ranges,
morphology, and behavior. Interactions vary from agonistic to cooperative and should result …

We use newly compiled data on global occurrences of Cretaceous lepidosaurs, mammals
and crocodylomorphs, and existing data on dinosaurs, to investigate faunal turnover and …

Ecological opportunities can be provided to organisms that cross stringent biogeographic
barriers towards environments with new ecological niches. Wallace's and Lyddeker's lines …

Background Borrelia are important disease-causing tick-and louse-borne spirochaetes than
can infect a wide variety of vertebrates, including humans and reptiles. Reptile-associated …

Komodo dragons (Varanus komodoensis) are the largest extant predatory lizards and their
ziphodont (serrated, curved and blade-shaped) teeth make them valuable analogues for …