Artículos de revistas
Reply to "Heart Position in Snakes"
Fecha
2011-01-01Registro en:
Physiological and Biochemical Zoology. Chicago: Univ Chicago Press, v. 84, n. 1, p. 102-106, 2011.
1522-2152
10.1086/658085
WOS:000286421300010
WOS000286421300010.pdf
Autor
University of California, Riverside (UCR)
Univ Calif Irvine
Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp)
Univ Alabama
Institución
Resumen
In a previous paper comparing 155 species of snakes, we showed that the position of the heart relative to the head is statistically related to both habitat usage and phylogenetic position ("Phylogeny, ecology, and heart position in snakes," Physiological and Biochemical Zoology 83: 43-54). More specifically, we found that, on average, arboreal snakes in our study had hearts placed more posteriorly than terrestrial species (P<0.0001). In their response, Professors Lillywhite and Seymour express the concerns that readers " might be misled by this statement or conclude that gravity has no clear influence on heart position in snakes." We do not share these concerns, and we respond to all of the issues raised in their commentary. We look forward to new data on the positions of snake hearts and further analyses that seek to test adaptive hypotheses by rigorous phylogenetic approaches.