Testing the morphological constraint hypothesis of tail length in the sexually dimorphic Cerastes vipera and new perspectives

Abstract The morphological constraint hypothesis (MCH) states that, in snakes, males typically have relatively longer tails than females to accommodate the hemipenes and retractor muscles. To date, most studies testing the MCH have been interspecific and results have been equivocal. We tested the MC...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Jaim Sivan, Itay Tesler, Shlomo Hadad, Abraham Allan Degen, Eli Geffen, Michael Kam
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2023-03-01
Series:Scientific Reports
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-31624-6