All roads lead to Rome: the plasticity of gut microbiome drives the extensive adaptation of the Yarkand toad-headed agama () to different altitudes.

The gut microbiome was involved in a variety of physiological processes and played a key role in host environmental adaptation. However, the mechanisms of their response to altitudinal environmental changes remain unclear. In this study, we used 16S rRNA sequencing and LC-MS metabolomics to investigate the changes in the gut microbiome and metabolism of the Yarkand toad-headed agama () at different altitudes (-80 m to 2000 m).

The first complete mitochondrial DNA of (Squamata: Gekkonidae) and its phylogeny.

The complete mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) of (Squamata: Gekkonidae) was described by using next-generation sequencing. The total length of mtDNA was 16,893 bp, which contained 13 PCGs (, , , , , and ), 22 transfer RNA(tRNA) genes, 2 ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes, and a control region (D-loop). The Bayesian inference tree showed that was included in Gekkonidae and was a sister taxon to .

Species divergence in valleys: the phylogeny of complex and description of a new species.

Background: Geographic isolation caused by high-altitude valleys promotes the formation of geographic segregation of species, leading to species differentiation. The subgenus contains viviparous species from the Tibetan Plateau and the vicinity of the Tarim Basin, which can be divided into three species complexes according to their geographical distribution: , , and . However, molecular data for the complex are limited and the diversity of this species complex has been greatly underestimated.

Report of abnormal tail regeneration of (Sauria: Lacertidae) and its locomotor performance.

Caudal autotomy is a phenomenon observed in many reptile taxa, and tail loss is a pivotal functional trait for reptiles, with potentially negative implications for organism fitness due to its influence on locomotion. Some lizard species can regenerate a lost tail, which sometimes can lead to the development of more than one tail (i.e.