Behavioral ecologists have long studied the role of coloration as a defense against natural
enemies. Recent reviews of defensive coloration have emphasized that these visual signals …

The Sardinian grass snake, Natrix helvetica cetti, is an endangered endemic snake
subspecies with a restricted and highly fragmented geographic distribution. Information on …

Snakes of the World: A Catalogue of Living and Extinct Species, published in 2014, was the
first catalogue of its kind and covered all living and fossil snakes described between 1758 …

Numerous works have related phylogeographical patterns of north African Mediterranean
biota to Pleistocene climatic oscillations. The application of complementary paleoclimate …

Albinism is a conspicuous and distinctive phenotype arising from the absence of melanin in
the integument that has been documented in all major vertebrate groups. With few …

Alternative phenotypes allow individuals to pursue different adaptive pathways in response
to the same selective challenge. Colour polymorphic species with geographically varying …

Animal coloration can benefit fitness via its function in homeostatic regulation,
communication, or camouflage. For wide-ranging taxa that are exposed to diverse climatic …

Turkey harbors a high diversity of viperid snakes, many with a high threat level on the
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, yet perception about even …

Insects have developed incredible means to avoid detection by predators. At least five insect
orders have species that resemble leaves. Katydids (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae) are the most …

Increasingly, multiple selective factors are recognized as jointly contributing to the evolution
of morphology. What is not clear is how these forces vary across communities to promote …