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Journal ArticleDOI

Colour pattern variation in populations of the European Whip snake, Hierophis viridiflavus: does geography explain everything?

Marco A. L. Zuffi
- 01 Jan 2008 - 
- Vol. 29, Iss: 2, pp 229-233
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TLDR
Different color patterns in European Whip snake, range from normal ("viridiflavus" pattern), to abundistic (dark pattern) to melanic-melanotic (black) patterns as discussed by the authors.
Abstract
Different colour patterns in European Whip snake, range from normal ("viridiflavus" pattern), to abundistic (dark pattern), to melanic-melanotic (black) patterns. Sexes are highly dimorphic, with more abundistic and melanotic-melanic males, than females. Colour patterns are also distributed in well defined areas of the species' distribution range. Normal colour is distributed in N Europe, N, NW and C Italy, while abundistic snakes are typical of Corsica and Sardinia, and melanic-melanotic snakes are very common or exclusive of NE, S Italy and Sicily. Proximal causes that may have driven the distribution of present colour patterns are linked to palaeogeographic events, even if fossil reconstruction of past colonization or a suitable phylogeographic hypothesis are not available.

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Citations
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Phylogeography of the European Whip Snake, Hierophis viridiflavus (Colubridae), using mtDNA and nuclear DNA sequences

TL;DR: The limited genetic differentiation of island populations from the western continental lineage, indicates that these populations are a result of a recent colonization in accordance with recent described phylogeographic patterns.
Journal ArticleDOI

Who are you? The genetic identity of some insular populations of Hierophis viridiflavus s.l. from the Tyrrhenian Sea

TL;DR: The authors hypothesise about times and modes of colonization and discuss the faunistic value of the obtained results, following the recent proposal to consider the two clades as two different species.
Journal ArticleDOI

Sources of intraspecific morphological variation in Vipera seoanei: allometry, sex, and colour phenotype

TL;DR: This study used linear biometry and geometric morphometrics to investigate intraspecific morphological variation related to allometry and sexual dimorphism in Vipera seoanei, a species that exhibits five colour morphotypes, potentially subjected to distinct ecological pressures.
Journal ArticleDOI

Melanism, body size, and sex ratio in snakes—new data on the grass snake (Natrix natrix) and synthesis

TL;DR: The data indicate that the consequences of melanism may be related to the reproductive mode of species, and in viviparous species, melanism tends to improve growth and/or body size and is more frequent in females, whereas the opposite holds for oviparious snakes.
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The scent of the others: chemical recognition in two distinct populations of the European whip snake, Hierophis viridiflavus

TL;DR: The results revealed that both insular and mainland males can utilise both homotypic and heterotypic chemical cues, and support the idea that isolated populations may evolve differences in communication systems.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI

Thermal melanism in ectotherms

TL;DR: A synthesis of the thermal melanism hypothesis which states that dark individuals are at an advantage under conditions of low temperature since they heat up faster than light individuals at a given level of solar radiation is provided.
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Adaptive reptile color variation and the evolution of the mc1r gene

TL;DR: Comparative data on a nuclear gene in reptiles is provided and the utility of a candidate‐gene approach for understanding the evolution of genes involved in vertebrate adaptation is highlighted.
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Testing alternative vicariance scenarios in Western Mediterranean discoglossid frogs

TL;DR: This work assessed the plausibility of several previously published biogeographic hypotheses, using the frog genera Alytes, Discoglossus, and Bombina as model groups and tested several calibrations of a molecular clock, which resulted in competing temporal settings for the evolution of taxa.
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Intraspecific habitat partitioning by the sea snake Emydocephalus annulatus (Serpentes, Hydrophiidae): the effects of sex, body size, and colour pattern

TL;DR: Habitat use in this population of sea snakes in New Caledonia is affected by a snake's body size and sex, but not by colour, and the effects of colour morph on operative temperatures of physical models disappeared under water.
Journal Article

Reproductive strategies in alpine adders, Vipera berus. The black females bear more often

TL;DR: En nous fondant sur une etude de 5 ans par marquage-recapture sur une population of viperes polymorphes dans les Alpes, nous avons demontre that dans cette population les femelles noires sont capables de se reproduire significativement plus souvent que les Femelles cryptiques.
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