Morphology forms the most fundamental level of data in vertebrate palaeontology because it
is through interpretations of morphology that taxa are identified, creating the basis for broad …

The functions of bright bands in coral and other snakes have long been a puzzle. The most
common opinion is that coral snakes display aposematic marks and that other red and black …

Ontogenetic allometry, how species change with size through their lives, and heterochony, a
decoupling between shape, size, and age, are major contributors to biological diversity …

Snakes are a diverse group of squamate reptiles characterized by a unique feeding system
and other traits associated with elongation and limblessness. Despite the description of …

Ontogenetic changes in venom composition have important ecological implications due the
relevance of venom in prey acquisition and defense. Additionally, intraspecific venom …

As snakes are limbless, gape-limited predators, their skull is the main feeding structure
involved in prey handling, manipulation and feeding. Ontogenetic changes in prey type and …

Colonization of islands can dramatically influence the evolutionary trajectories of organisms,
with both deterministic and stochastic processes driving adaptation and diversification …

Commercial production systems for wildlife increasingly involve closed-cycle captive
breeding, in which effective regulation requires methods for verifying the provenance of …

Sexual dimorphism in snake head/skull is poorly known, although analyses in other
vertebrate groups have already pointed this kind of morphological difference. Herein we …

Allometric growth is one of the dominant factors of morphological variation, although this
issue is still poorly explored. Using geometric morphometrics, we evaluated and described …