Kevin Arbuckle

TL;DR: A roadmap of technological advances and key questions for the future of animal coloration research are provided, to identify hitherto unrecognized challenges for this multi- and interdisciplinary field.

TL;DR: Evidence of constrained convergent molecular evolution across the metazoan tree of life is provided by showing that resistance to toxic cardiac glycosides produced by plants and bufonid toads is mediated by similar molecular changes to the sodium-potassium-pump in insects, amphibians, reptiles, and mammals.

TL;DR: The results of this study suggest that cytotoxicity evolved primarily as a defensive innovation and that it has co-evolved twice alongside hooding behavior: once in the Hemachatus + Naja and again independently in the king cobras (Ophiophagus).

TL;DR: The Wheatsheaf index is developed that provides an index of the strength of convergent evolution incorporating both phenotypic similarity and phylogenetic relatedness and is comparable across any quantitative or semiquantitative traits and thus will enable the testing of various hypotheses relating to convergence.

TL;DR: The results indicate that the venoms are, in general, potently procoagulant but that the relative dependence on calcium or phospholipid cofactors is highly variable and this will spur efforts into the development of antivenoms with more comprehensive coverage for bites not only from wild snakes but also from specimens widely kept in zoological collections.