<
https://theconversation.com/why-are-there-so-many-lizards-in-australia-the-ancient-climate-holds-a-clue-282708>
"If you travel around Australia, you will find an incredible diversity of
lizards.
The three-toed snake-tooth skink (
Saiphos reticulatus), for example, is a
peculiarly long and stumpy legged reptile that burrows in rainforest and is
covered in a brilliant orange and black-banded pattern. Alpine water skinks
(
Eulamprus kosciuskoi) are incredibly cold-tolerant and mottled with black
and greenish yellow, like mossy rocks in mountain streams. Prickly forest
skinks (
Concinnia queenslandiae) are delightfully chunky-headed, spiky,
armoured rainforest gems.
These lizards are all members of Australia’s largest evolutionarily related
group of vertebrate animals, known as the Sphenomorphini. Their ancestors
arrived in Australia some 28 million years ago, likely crossing land bridges
and rafting across islands from Southeast Asia during glacial periods when sea
levels were lower.
In a new paper, colleagues and I describe the most complete and detailed
evolutionary tree of this group to date. This helps us to understand why there
is such a mountain of species diversity within this group. A crucial clue is in
the climate."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
