ArticleCommunications biology2021
Substrate thermal properties influence ventral brightness evolution in ectotherms.
Article in Communications biology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 21 citations in OpenAlex.
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- Niche Differences in Coexisting Species: Ecological Insights Into the Role of Activity Patterns, Space Use, and Environmental Preferences.Ecology and evolution · 2025Article
- Nanopores in the ventral scales ofBiology letters · 2025Article
- Evolutionary History and Climatic Correlates of Hypermelanism in Viperidae.Ecology and evolution · 2025Article
- Habitat openness and squamate color evolution over deep time.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Environmental Gradients in Lizard Colouration.Ecology and evolution · 2025Article
- Melanin-based color variation in response to changing climates in snakes.Ecology and evolution · 2024Article
- The global importance and interplay of colour-based protective and thermoregulatory functions in frogs.Nature communications · 2023Article
- Climatic conditions and prevalence of melanistic snakes-contrasting effects of warm springs and mild winters.International journal of biometeorology · 2022Article
- Substrate thermal properties influence ventral brightness evolution in ectotherms.Communications biology · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The thermal environment can affect the evolution of morpho-behavioral adaptations of ectotherms. Heat is transferred from substrates to organisms by conduction and reflected radiation. Because brightness influences the degree of heat absorption, substrates could affect the evolution of integumentary optical properties. Here, we show that vipers (Squamata:Viperidae) inhabiting hot, highly radiative and superficially conductive substrates have evolved bright ventra for efficient heat transfer. We analyzed the brightness of 4161 publicly available images from 126 species, and we found that substrate type, alongside latitude and body mass, strongly influences ventral brightness. Substrate type also significantly affects dorsal brightness, but this is associated with different selective forces: activity-pattern and altitude. Ancestral estimation analysis suggests that the ancestral ventral condition was likely moderately bright and, following divergence events, some species convergently increased their brightness. Vipers diversified during the Miocene and the enhancement of ventral brightness may have facilitated the exploitation of arid grounds. We provide evidence that integument brightness can impact the behavioral ecology of ectotherms.
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