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Body-form Evolution in the Scincid Lizard Clade Lerista and the Mode of Macroevolutionary Transitions

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Abstract

The scincid lizard clade Lerista provides an exceptional model for studying the mode of substantial evolutionary transformations, comprising more than 90 species displaying a remarkable variety of body forms. Patterns of character evolution in this clade, inferred from reconstructed ancestral states, are at least partly consistent with the correlated progression model of macroevolutionary change. At each stage in the transition to a highly elongate, limb-reduced body plan, alterations to the lengths of the forelimb and hind limb are accompanied by compensatory changes in snout-vent length (or vice versa), preserving locomotory ability. Nonetheless, there is evidence for moderate dissociation of hind limb evolution in some lineages, while tail length has evolved effectively independently of the substantial alterations to the lengths of the body and limbs. This indicates a significant role of evolutionary and developmental modularity in the divergence of body form within Lerista, and emphasises the potential variability of the strength of functional constraints within organisms and among lineages. Trends toward a highly elongate, functionally limbless body plan may be attributed primarily to a combination of the interdependence of changes in snout-vent length and limb lengths and the very low probability of re-elaborating structurally reduced limbs. Similar asymmetries in the probabilities of interrelated phenotypic changes may be a significant cause of evolutionary trends resulting in the emergence of higher taxa.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Mark Hutchinson and two anonymous referees for commenting on earlier versions of the manuscript, Mark Hutchinson and Marco Sacchi for providing the photographs, and the Australian Research Council and Hermon Slade Foundation for financial support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, 5005, Australia

    Adam Skinner & Michael S. Y. Lee

  2. South Australian Museum, North Terrace, Adelaide, SA, 5000, Australia

    Adam Skinner & Michael S. Y. Lee

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  1. Adam Skinner
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  2. Michael S. Y. Lee
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Correspondence to Adam Skinner.

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Skinner, A., Lee, M.S.Y. Body-form Evolution in the Scincid Lizard Clade Lerista and the Mode of Macroevolutionary Transitions. Evol Biol 36, 292–300 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11692-009-9064-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11692-009-9064-9

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