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Posted: 10th April 2025

Reptiles brighter in open habitats, study finds
The findings could inform future conservation efforts and predict the consequences of climate change.
Animals may have adapted their colouration to survive climate change.

A new study has explored how habitat and climate change over millions of years have impacted reptiles' colouration.

The research project sought to develop a greater understanding of the global patterns of colouration and adaptation.

Although it has long been established that environmental factors contribute to colour changes among reptiles, there is less understanding on which factors predominantly contribute to these adaptations.

Jonathan Goldenberg, who led the study at Lund University, said: “Colour evolves under the influence of several competing selection forces from different ecological and environmental factors.

“By identifying the driving forces behind global patterns of colour variation, we can gain a deeper understanding of how species can adapt to changing environmental conditions,”

Researchers from Lund University, in Sweden, performed an analysis of 10,638 images of 1,249 species of scaled reptiles. This included quantifying the colour brightness of each reptile.

The analysis also saw researchers examine body mass, distribution by latitude and altitude, visibility, habitat type and activity time.

The reptiles' brightness was then evaluated against the six variables, as well as underlying selection forces. The findings would explore how these variables may have contributed to changes in colour brightness over the past 200 million years of reptile history.

Based on this analysis, researchers state that lighter colouration is consistently linked to reptiles which have lived in open habitats over a long period.

Dr Goldenberg added: “We also discovered that the rate of colour brightness evolution probably follows major changes towards a colder and drier climate. This suggests that reptiles have probably adapted their coloration to new habitats in response to changes in the landscape,”

The latest results, as well as the new database of images, are expected to provide more insights into how the species interact with changing environmental conditions. The findings could also improve knowledge of biodiversity, guide preservation efforts and help predict the consequences of climate change in future.

The full study can be found in the journal Nature Communications.

Image © Shutterstock



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