Walking or hanging: the role of habitat use for body shape evolution in lacertid lizards

Differences in habitat use impose ecological constraints which in turn lead to functional and morphological differences through adaptation. In fact, a convergent evolutionary pattern is evident when species exhibit similar responses to similar environments. In this study we examine how habitat use influences the evolution of body shape in lizards from the family Lacertidae. We divided our species set into two categories: ground-dwellers and climbers, which encompasses the verticality and horizontality aspects of the habitat. We performed phylogenetic comparative analyses employing 186 species and seven linear morphological traits. Our results show contrasting patterns between head and limb shape, which are considered distinct functional blocks. We observed differences in forelimb proportions, but not in hindlimb length, contrary to what was documented in other lizard groups, demonstrating a novel axis in the limb-locomotion-habitat relationship in this family. In addition, a clear effec..., , , # Walking or hanging: the role of habitat use for body shape evolution in lacertid lizards

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.547d7wmjf](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.547d7wmjf)

## Description of the data and file structure

Title: Walking or hanging: the role of habitat use for body shape evolution in lacertid lizards

Authors: Pablo Vicent-Castelló1,2,3, Anthony Herrel4,5,6,7, D. James Harris1,2, Antigoni Kaliontzopoulou3

1. CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Universidade do Porto, Vairão, Portugal
2. BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics, Biodiversity and Land Planning, CIBIO, Vairão, Portugal
3. Departament de Biologia Evolutiva, Ecologia i Ciències Ambientals de la Universitat de Barcelona (BEECA), Institut de Recerca de la Biodiversitat (IRBio), Universitat de Barcelona
4. Département Adaptations du Vivant, Bâtiment, UMR 7179 MECADEV C.N.R. S/M.N.H.N., d'Anatomie Comparée, Paris, France
5. Department of Biology, Evolutionary Mo...