Recent analyses using large‐scale phylogenies suggest a radically different history for the
evolution of live birth and egg laying in squamate reptiles (lizards and snakes) than …

Changes in parity mode between egg‐laying (oviparity) and live‐bearing (viviparity) have
occurred repeatedly throughout vertebrate evolution. Oviparity is the ancestral amniote state …

To understand evolutionary transformations it is necessary to identify the character states of
extinct ancestors. Ancestral character state reconstruction is inherently difficult because it …

Phylogenetically based analyses can suggest directions of evolutionary transitions, based
on parsimony, but can never provide unambiguous answers. To clarify the relative frequency …

Viviparity has putatively evolved 115 times in squamates (lizards and snakes), out of only~
140 origins in vertebrates, and is apparently related to colder climates and other factors such …

Recent studies in comparative vertebrate embryology have focused on two related
questions. One concerns the existence of a phylotypic period, or indeed any period, during …

Viviparity (live-bearing) has evolved from oviparity (egg-laying) more than 100 times within
snakes and lizards, and thermal factors are thought to have driven this shift. However, other …

It is of fundamental importance for the field of evolutionary biology to understand when and
why major evolutionary transitions occur. Live‐bearing young (viviparity) is a major …

Squamate reptiles (lizards and snakes) are a diverse clade in which there appear to have
been multiple origins of many remarkable traits, including (a) parthenogenetic …

Research focused on understanding the evolutionary factors that shape parity mode
evolution among vertebrates have long focused on squamate reptiles (snakes and lizards) …