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Summary: Diversity and evolution of macrohabitat use, body size
and morphology in a monophyletic group of Neotropical
pitvipers (Bothrops)
Marcio Martins1
, Marcio S. Araujo2
, Ricardo J. Sawaya2
and Renato Nunes3
1
Departamento de Ecologia, Instituto de BiocieÃncias, Universidade de SaÄo Paulo, Caixa Postal 11461, 05422-970 SaÄo Paulo SP, Brazil
2
Departamento de Zoologia, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Caixa Postal 6109, 13083-970 Campinas SP, Brazil
3
Departamento de Zoologia, Instituto de BiocieÃncias, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Caixa Postal 199, 13506-900 Rio Claro SP, Brazil
(Accepted 16 October 2000)
Abstract
The Neotropical pitviper genus Bothrops comprises about 40 species, which occur in all main ecosystems of
cis-Andean South America. We explored the relationships of body size and form (tail length and stoutness)
with macrohabitat use in 20 forms of Bothrops. Semi-arboreal habits appeared only in forest forms. Semi-
arboreals are signi®cantly more slender and have longer tails than terrestrials; body size is not signi®cantly
different between terrestrials and semi-arboreals. Within Bothrops, independent contrasts for macrohabitat
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