Climate and habitat niche diversification in a southwest European squamate assemblage

The variations in the niches of species within a clade depend on the complex interplay among geography, climatic history, and species-specific factors. For the first time, we investigated the evolutionary patterns in the climate and habitat niches of 50 species in the order Squamata and a nested subclade (family Lacertidae) in southwest Europe. The habitats of species were characterized at three spatial levels: 1 km2 (macrohabitat), 2830 m2...