THE TALE OF THE BLACK VIPER: DISTRIBUTION AND BIOCLIMATIC NICHE MODELLING OF MELANISTIC VIPERA ASPIS IN ITALY

For decades, the evolutionary role of melanism in reptiles has been highly debated.According to the thermal melanism hypothesis, melanistic phenotypes should provide thermal advantages, thus positively impacting various biological aspects of these nacrack.com individuals.Nevertheless, these benefits seem to be countered by environmental constraints

Teresa Esposito,1,2 Jean Marc Lobaccaro,3 Maria Grazia Esposito,4 Vincenzo Monda,1 Antonietta Messina,1 Giuseppe Paolisso,5 Bruno Varriale,2 Marcellino Monda,1 Giovanni Messina1,6 1Department of Experimental Medicine, Section of Human Physiology and Unit of Dietetics and Sports Medicine, 2Laboratory of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Department of