Morphology and Evolution of Snakes

Dear Colleagues,

Despite their limbless body plan, snakes exhibit unexpected diversity in both form and function. Body sizes range from ~10 cm in various blind snakes to over 13 meters in some extinct boids, and lineages exploit most of Earth’s ecosystems from terrestrial to marine. Moreover, snakes have evolved a multitude of traits related to body elongation and specialized diets, including complex venoms and toxin delivery systems, kinetic skulls, ornate color patterns, infrared sensing organs, and the highest number of vertebrae among chordates. Snakes (and other squamate lineages) reveal the glimpses of the fascinating evolutionary transition toward limb reduction and loss, with vestigial girdles and other remnants of their tetrapod ancestry; however, much remains to be learned about the origins and morphological diversity of this megadiverse clade.

Recent advances in evolutionary development (evo devo), genomics, and paleontology, along with traditional museum resources, have set the stage for renewed progress in understanding the unique morphology and evolution of snakes. This Special Issue will showcase new research that furthers our understanding of snake evolution, with an emphasis on form and function. We invite researchers to submit their manuscripts that relate to all aspects of snake morphology, including genome-wide association studies, evolutionary transitions in form and function, the origins of snakes and how this radiation differs from other elongate and/or limb-reduced vertebrate lineages, snake embryogenesis and development, and ecological and functional relationships with phenotype, from color-pattern to scalation. We hope this Special Issue will provide a platform to both the state of the current understanding of snake evolution and stimulate further research on the opportunities and limits of extreme body plans.

Dr. Jesse M. Meik
Dr. Paul M. Hampton
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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