Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39390235›Full record

ArticleScientific reports2024

Color polymorphic carnivores have faster speciation rates.

Moritz M Heuer, Klaus Fischer, Laura Tensen

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Scientific reports, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Long-term evolutionary persistence of a cryptic color polymorphism in frogs.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025
    Article
  3. Article
  4. Links between color conspicuousness, territorial behavior, and steroids in a color polymorphic lizard.Behavioral ecology : official journal of the International Society for Behavioral Ecology
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Moritz M HeuerDepartment of Physical Geography, Trier University, Trier, Germany.
Klaus FischerDepartment of Biology, Institute for Integrated Natural Sciences, Koblenz University, Koblenz, Germany.
Laura TensenDepartment of Biology, Institute for Integrated Natural Sciences, Koblenz University, Koblenz, Germany. tensen.laura@gmail.com.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Variation in coat color is a prominent feature in carnivores, thought to be shaped by environmental factors. As new traits could allow populations to occupy novel niches and habitats, color polymorphism may be maintained by balancing selection. Consequently, color polymorphic species may speciate more rapidly and can give rise to monomorphic daughter species. We thus predicted that, within the Carnivora, (i) speciation rate is higher in polymorphic lineages, (ii) divergence between color polymorphic lineages is more recent, and (iii) within closely related groups, polymorphic lineages are ancestral and monomorphic lineages derived. We also tested whether accelerated speciation rates relate to niche breadth, measured by the number of occupied habitats and range size. We collected data of 48 polymorphic and 192 monomorphic carnivore species, and assessed speciation rates using phylogenetic comparative methods. We found that polymorphic carnivores had higher speciation rates (λ

Indexed as

CarnivoraGenetic SpeciationPhylogenyAnimalsEcosystemPigmentationPolymorphism, GeneticBalancing selectionCarnivoraColor morphsExtinction rateNiche segregationPhylogeneticsSympatric evolution

Identifiers

PMID39390235
PMCPMC11467396

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Registered trials

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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.