ArticleProceedings. Biological sciences2018
On dangerous ground: the evolution of body armour in cordyline lizards.
Article in Proceedings. Biological sciences, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 33 citations in OpenAlex.
- ArmourTraits: A comparative dataset on the ecological and evolutionary correlates of dermal armour in squamates.Data in brief · 2026Article
- Co-option and innovation in neural crest evolution.Science advances · 2026Review
- Decoupled evolution of ventral and dorsal scales in agamid lizards: ventral keels are associated with arboreality.Biology letters · 2024Article
- The first description of dermal armour in snakes.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Chromosome-Level Genome Assembly of the Cape Cliff Lizard (Hemicordylus capensis).Genome biology and evolution · 2023Article
- Palaeopathological evidence for intraspecific combat in ankylosaurid dinosaurs.Biology letters · 2022Article
- Osteoderms as calcium reservoirs: Insights from the lizard Ouroborus cataphractus.Journal of anatomy · 2022Article
- A review of the osteoderms of lizards (Reptilia: Squamata).Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society · 2022Review
- Turning turtle: scaling relationships and self-righting ability inProceedings. Biological sciences · 2021Article
- Ontogenetic scaling patterns of lizard skin surface structure as revealed by gel-based stereo-profilometry.Journal of anatomy · 2019Article
- On dangerous ground: the evolution of body armour in cordyline lizards.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Animal body armour is often considered an adaptation that protects prey against predatory attacks, yet comparative studies that link the diversification of these allegedly protective coverings to differential predation risk or pressure are scarce. Here, we examine the evolution of body armour, including spines and osteoderms, in Cordylinae, a radiation of southern African lizards. Using phylogenetic comparative methods, we attempt to identify the ecological and environmental correlates of body armour that may hint at the selective pressures responsible for defensive trait diversification. Our results show that species inhabiting arid environments are more likely to possess elaborated body armour, specifically osteoderms. We did not find any effect of estimated predation pressure or risk on the degree of body armour. These findings suggest that body armour might not necessarily evolve in response to direct interactions with predators, but rather as a result of increased habitat-mediated predation risk. Furthermore, we discuss the possibility that osteoderms might have been shaped by factors unrelated to predation.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.