Journal
BIOLOGICAL REVIEWS
Volume 96, Issue 3, Pages 1035-1050Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1111/brv.12690
Keywords
body elongation; internal morphology; limb‐ reduced squamates; limb reduction; macroevolution; morphological evolution; snake‐ like lizards
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Funding
- Holsworth Wildlife Research Endowment - Equity Trustees Charitable Foundation & the Ecological Society of Australia
- Monash-Museums Victoria Robert Blackwood scholarship
- Australian Research Council [LP170100012, DE180100629]
- Australian Research Council [LP170100012, DE180100629] Funding Source: Australian Research Council
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The evolution of elongated snake-like bodies with limb reduction has occurred multiple times throughout vertebrate history, with squamates (lizards and snakes) being the primary examples. Researchers have utilized various approaches to study limb reduction, exploring anatomical, evolutionary, developmental, phylogenetic, functional, and ecological aspects. Suggestions for further research include widening the scope of analyses and integrating different perspectives to gain a deeper understanding of these morphological transitions and their evolution, emphasizing the importance of investigating both the internal and external morphology of limb-reduced lizards for a comprehensive insight into body-shape variation.
Elongated snake-like bodies associated with limb reduction have evolved multiple times throughout vertebrate history. Limb-reduced squamates (lizards and snakes) account for the vast majority of these morphological transformations, and thus have great potential for revealing macroevolutionary transitions and modes of body-shape transformation. Here we present a comprehensive review on limb reduction, in which we examine and discuss research on these dramatic morphological transitions. Historically, there have been several approaches to the study of squamate limb reduction: (i) definitions of general anatomical principles of snake-like body shapes, expressed as varying relationships between body parts and morphometric measurements; (ii) framing of limb reduction from an evolutionary perspective using morphological comparisons; (iii) defining developmental mechanisms involved in the ontogeny of limb-reduced forms, and their genetic basis; (iv) reconstructions of the evolutionary history of limb-reduced lineages using phylogenetic comparative methods; (v) studies of functional and biomechanical aspects of limb-reduced body shapes; and (vi) studies of ecological and biogeographical correlates of limb reduction. For each of these approaches, we highlight their importance in advancing our understanding, as well as their weaknesses and limitations. Lastly, we provide suggestions to stimulate further studies, in which we underscore the necessity of widening the scope of analyses, and of bringing together different perspectives in order to understand better these morphological transitions and their evolution. In particular, we emphasise the importance of investigating and comparing the internal morphology of limb-reduced lizards in contrast to external morphology, which will be the first step in gaining a deeper insight into body-shape variation.
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