Context-dependent body size evolution in lacertid lizards: Differential role of structural habitat and climate across radiations

Body size plays a pivotal role in organismal performance, physiology, and ecology, making its evolution a key focus in biology. This study investigates the effects of structural habitat (climbing vs. ground-dwelling) and climatic variables on body size evolution within the diverse Lacertidae lizard family and across phylogenetic scales. Our results reveal how structural habitat drives diversification rather than convergence toward specific morphological optima, with evolutionary rates varying substantially among phylogenetic groups. Gallotinae exhibits the highest evolutionary rates, likely due to island-driven dynamics, while Eremiadini and Lacertini display contrasting patterns linked to habitat use and evolutionary history. On the other hand, climatic variables influence body size variation by group. In Eremiadini, significant associations with temperature and precipitation seasonality align with the seasonality, heat conservation, and starvation resistance hypotheses. Lacertini body..., , , # Context-dependent body size evolution in lacertid lizards: Differential role of structural habitat and climate across radiations

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.3tx95x6sb](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.3tx95x6sb)

## Description of the data and file structure

Context-dependent body size evolution in lacertid lizards: differential role of structural habitat and climate across radiations.

**Authors**

Pablo Vicent-Castelló1,2,3,4, Urtzi Enriquez-Urzelai5, Fernando Martínez-Freíria1,2, Joan Garcia-Porta6, 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\. Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de...,