Interpopulation morphological differences and sexual dimorphism of Dekay’s brownsnake (Storeria dekayi) along a rural–urban gradient
In response to the surge of urbanization in the modern era, many organisms have undergone various changes, such as the shift of their morphological traits to face the challenges brought by this drastic environmental transformation. Rapid adaptive evolution in the morphology of urban-dwelling organis...
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2025-06-01
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| author | Tianqi Huang Peter J. Morin Sara Ruane |
| author_facet | Tianqi Huang Peter J. Morin Sara Ruane |
| author_sort | Tianqi Huang |
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| description | In response to the surge of urbanization in the modern era, many organisms have undergone various changes, such as the shift of their morphological traits to face the challenges brought by this drastic environmental transformation. Rapid adaptive evolution in the morphology of urban-dwelling organisms has been documented in a broad array of taxa, such as lizards and birds, by comparing urban populations with their nonurban counterparts. However, relevant studies concerning more elusive and secretive organisms that also occur in both natural and urbanized habitats (e.g., snakes), are still lacking. Snakes lack appendages, which are often the trait of interest in other morphological studies, but factors such as head shape play a critical role in snakes, as it determines the prey size of these gape-limited predators. In this study, we apply both linear and geometric morphometric analyses to examine interpopulation morphological differences and sexual dimorphism in a small, semi-fossorial snake, Dekay’s brownsnake (Storeria dekayi). We focus on head shape in six different populations across the rural-urban gradient in New Jersey and New York, USA. We find evidence of increased morphological divergence and decreased sexual dimorphism in populations inhabiting more urbanized areas. Our study suggests the occurrence of an adaptive morphological shift in this common species in the urban environments, and lays the path for further investigation of urban adaptation in snakes and similar secretive species. |
| format | Article |
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| institution | Kabale University |
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| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
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| spelling | doaj-art-00bfba2f45cf4cae997bc54fbe4be7d22025-08-20T03:47:12ZengPeerJ Inc.PeerJ2167-83592025-06-0113e1943910.7717/peerj.19439Interpopulation morphological differences and sexual dimorphism of Dekay’s brownsnake (Storeria dekayi) along a rural–urban gradientTianqi Huang0Peter J. Morin1Sara Ruane2Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ, United States of AmericaDepartment of Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ, United States of AmericaLife Sciences Section, Negaunee Integrative Research Center, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL, United States of AmericaIn response to the surge of urbanization in the modern era, many organisms have undergone various changes, such as the shift of their morphological traits to face the challenges brought by this drastic environmental transformation. Rapid adaptive evolution in the morphology of urban-dwelling organisms has been documented in a broad array of taxa, such as lizards and birds, by comparing urban populations with their nonurban counterparts. However, relevant studies concerning more elusive and secretive organisms that also occur in both natural and urbanized habitats (e.g., snakes), are still lacking. Snakes lack appendages, which are often the trait of interest in other morphological studies, but factors such as head shape play a critical role in snakes, as it determines the prey size of these gape-limited predators. In this study, we apply both linear and geometric morphometric analyses to examine interpopulation morphological differences and sexual dimorphism in a small, semi-fossorial snake, Dekay’s brownsnake (Storeria dekayi). We focus on head shape in six different populations across the rural-urban gradient in New Jersey and New York, USA. We find evidence of increased morphological divergence and decreased sexual dimorphism in populations inhabiting more urbanized areas. Our study suggests the occurrence of an adaptive morphological shift in this common species in the urban environments, and lays the path for further investigation of urban adaptation in snakes and similar secretive species.https://peerj.com/articles/19439.pdfGeometric morphometricsHead morphologyPhenotypic shiftUrbanization |
| spellingShingle | Tianqi Huang Peter J. Morin Sara Ruane Interpopulation morphological differences and sexual dimorphism of Dekay’s brownsnake (Storeria dekayi) along a rural–urban gradient PeerJ Geometric morphometrics Head morphology Phenotypic shift Urbanization |
| title | Interpopulation morphological differences and sexual dimorphism of Dekay’s brownsnake (Storeria dekayi) along a rural–urban gradient |
| title_full | Interpopulation morphological differences and sexual dimorphism of Dekay’s brownsnake (Storeria dekayi) along a rural–urban gradient |
| title_fullStr | Interpopulation morphological differences and sexual dimorphism of Dekay’s brownsnake (Storeria dekayi) along a rural–urban gradient |
| title_full_unstemmed | Interpopulation morphological differences and sexual dimorphism of Dekay’s brownsnake (Storeria dekayi) along a rural–urban gradient |
| title_short | Interpopulation morphological differences and sexual dimorphism of Dekay’s brownsnake (Storeria dekayi) along a rural–urban gradient |
| title_sort | interpopulation morphological differences and sexual dimorphism of dekay s brownsnake storeria dekayi along a rural urban gradient |
| topic | Geometric morphometrics Head morphology Phenotypic shift Urbanization |
| url | https://peerj.com/articles/19439.pdf |
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