The proteome landscape of the kingdoms of life.

Proteins carry out the vast majority of functions in all biological domains, but for technological reasons their large-scale investigation has lagged behind the study of genomes. Since the first essentially complete eukaryotic proteome was reported1, advances in mass-spectrometry-based proteomics2 have enabled increasingly comprehensive identification and quantification of the human proteome3-6. However, there have been few comparisons across species7,8, in stark contrast with genomics initiatives9. Here we use an advanced proteomics workflow-in which the peptide separation step is performed by a microstructured and extremely reproducible chromatographic system-for the in-depth study of 100 taxonomically diverse organisms. With two million peptide and 340,000 stringent protein identifications obtained in a standardized manner, we double the number of proteins with solid experimental evidence known to the scientific community. The data also provide a large-scale case study for sequence-based machine learning, as we demonstrate by experimentally confirming the predicted properties of peptides from Bacteroides uniformis. Our results offer a comparative view of the functional organization of organisms across the entire evolutionary range. A remarkably high fraction of the total proteome mass in all kingdoms is dedicated to protein homeostasis and folding, highlighting the biological challenge of maintaining protein structure in all branches of life. Likewise, a universally high fraction is involved in supplying energy resources, although these pathways range from photosynthesis through iron sulfur metabolism to carbohydrate metabolism. Generally, however, proteins and proteomes are remarkably diverse between organisms, and they can readily be explored and functionally compared at www.proteomesoflife.org.

The utility of body size as a functional trait to link the past and present in a diverse reptile clade.

Understanding the relationships between functional traits and environment is increasingly important for assessing ecosystem health and forecasting biotic responses to future environmental change. Taxon-free analyses of functional traits (ecometrics) allow for testing the performance of such traits through time, utilizing both the fossil record and paleoenvironmental proxies. Here, we test the role of body size as a functional trait with respect to climate, using turtles as a model system. We examine the influence of mass-specific metabolic rate as a functional factor in the sorting of body size with environmental temperature and investigate the utility of community body size composition as an ecometric correlated to climate variables. We then apply our results to the fossil record of the Plio-Pleistocene Shungura Formation in Ethiopia. Results show that turtle body sizes scale with mass-specific metabolic rate for larger taxa, but not for the majority of species, indicating that metabolism is not a primary driver of size. Body size ecometrics have stronger predictive power at continental than at global scales, but without a single, dominant predictive functional relationship. Application of ecometrics to the Shungura fossil record suggests that turtle paleocommunity ecometrics coarsely track independent paleoclimate estimates at local scales. We hypothesize that both human disruption and biotic interactions limit the ecometric fit of size to climate in this clade. Nonetheless, examination of the consistency of trait-environment relationships through deep and shallow time provides a means for testing anthropogenic influences on ecosystems.

Isotopes prove advanced, integral crop production, and stockbreeding strategies nourished Trypillia mega-populations.

After 500 y of colonizing the forest-steppe area northwest of the Black Sea, on the territories of what is today Moldova and Ukraine, Trypillia societies founded large, aggregated settlements from ca. 4150 BCE and mega-sites (>100 ha) from ca. 3950 BCE. Covering up to 320 ha and housing up to 15,000 inhabitants, the latter were the world's largest settlements to date. Some 480 δ13C and δ15N measurements on bones of humans, animals, and charred crops allow the detection of spatio-temporal patterns and the calculation of complete agricultural Bayesian food webs for Trypillia societies. The isotope data come from settlements of the entire Trypillia area between the Prut and the Dnieper rivers. The datasets cover the development of the Trypillia societies from the early phase (4800-4200/4100 BCE), over the agglomeration of mega-sites (4200/4100-3650 BCE), to the dispersal phase (3650-3000 BCE). High δ15N values mostly come from the mega-sites. Our analyses show that the subsistence of Trypillia mega-sites depended on pulses cultivated on strongly manured (dung-)soils and on cattle that were kept fenced on intensive pastures to easy collect the manure for pulse cultivation. The food web models indicate a low proportion of meat in human diet (approximately 10%). The largely crop-based diet, consisting of cereals plus up to 46% pulses, was balanced in calories and indispensable amino acids. The flourishing of Europe's first mega-populations depended on an advanced, integral mega-economy that included sophisticated dung management. Their demise was therefore not economically, but socially, conditioned [Hofmann et al., PLoS One. 14, e0222243 (2019)].

Holocene bidirectional river system along the Kenya Rift and its influence on East African faunal exchange and diversity gradients.

East Africa is a global biodiversity hotspot and exhibits distinct longitudinal diversity gradients from west to east in freshwater fishes and forest mammals. The assembly of this exceptional biodiversity and the drivers behind diversity gradients remain poorly understood, with diversification often studied at local scales and less attention paid to biotic exchange between Afrotropical regions. Here, we reconstruct a river system that existed for several millennia along the now semiarid Kenya Rift Valley during the humid early Holocene and show how this river system influenced postglacial dispersal of fishes and mammals due to its dual role as a dispersal corridor and barrier. Using geomorphological, geochronological, isotopic, and fossil analyses and a synthesis of radiocarbon dates, we find that the overflow of Kenyan rift lakes between 12 and 8 ka before present formed a bidirectional river system consisting of a "Northern River" connected to the Nile Basin and a "Southern River," a closed basin. The drainage divide between these rivers represented the only viable terrestrial dispersal corridor across the rift. The degree and duration of past hydrological connectivity between adjacent river basins determined spatial diversity gradients for East African fishes. Our reconstruction explains the isolated distribution of Nilotic fish species in modern Kenyan rift lakes, Guineo-Congolian mammal species in forests east of the Kenya Rift, and recent incipient vertebrate speciation and local endemism in this region. Climate-driven rearrangements of drainage networks unrelated to tectonic activity contributed significantly to the assembly of species diversity and modern faunas in the East African biodiversity hotspot.

Consistency across multi-omics layers in a drug-perturbed gut microbial community.

Multi-omics analyses are used in microbiome studies to understand molecular changes in microbial communities exposed to different conditions. However, it is not always clear how much each omics data type contributes to our understanding and whether they are concordant with each other. Here, we map the molecular response of a synthetic community of 32 human gut bacteria to three non-antibiotic drugs by using five omics layers (16S rRNA gene profiling, metagenomics, metatranscriptomics, metaproteomics and metabolomics). We find that all the omics methods with species resolution are highly consistent in estimating relative species abundances. Furthermore, different omics methods complement each other for capturing functional changes. For example, while nearly all the omics data types captured that the antipsychotic drug chlorpromazine selectively inhibits Bacteroidota representatives in the community, the metatranscriptome and metaproteome suggested that the drug induces stress responses related to protein quality control. Metabolomics revealed a decrease in oligosaccharide uptake, likely caused by Bacteroidota depletion. Our study highlights how multi-omics datasets can be utilized to reveal complex molecular responses to external perturbations in microbial communities.

The Superblock model: A review of an innovative urban model for sustainability, liveability, health and well-being.

INTRODUCTION: Current urban and transport planning practices have significant negative health, environmental, social and economic impacts in most cities. New urban development models and policies are needed to reduce these negative impacts. The Superblock model is one such innovative urban model that can significantly reduce these negative impacts through reshaping public spaces into more diverse uses such as increase in green space, infrastructure supporting social contacts and physical activity, and through prioritization of active mobility and public transport, thereby reducing air pollution, noise and urban heat island effects. This paper reviews key aspects of the Superblock model, its implementation and initial evaluations in Barcelona and the potential international uptake of the model in Europe and globally, focusing on environmental, climate, lifestyle, liveability and health aspects. METHODS: We used a narrative meta-review approach and PubMed and Google scholar databases were searched using specific terms. RESULTS: The implementation of the Super block model in Barcelona is slow, but with initial improvement in, for example, environmental, lifestyle, liveability and health indicators, although not so consistently. When applied on a large scale, the implementation of the Superblock model is not only likely to result in better environmental conditions, health and wellbeing, but can also contribute to the fight against the climate crisis. There is a need for further expansion of the program and further evaluation of its impacts and answers to related concerns, such as environmental equity and gentrification, traffic and related environmental exposure displacement. The implementation of the Superblock model gained a growing international reputation and variations of it are being planned or implemented in cities worldwide. Initial modelling exercises showed that it could be implemented in large parts of many cities. CONCLUSION: The Superblock model is an innovative urban model that addresses environmental, climate, liveability and health concerns in cities. Adapted versions of the Barcelona Superblock model are being implemented in cities around Europe and further implementation, monitoring and evaluation are encouraged. The Superblock model can be considered an important public health intervention that will reduce mortality and morbidity and generate cost savings for health and other sectors.

Brobdingnagians and Goliaths: two forms of gigantism in fish.

Two forms of gigantism are differentiated in fish, Brobdingnagian and Goliathan gigantism, the former applying to populations whose individuals are all larger than is typical for the taxon, the latter to single individuals within a population. While Brobdingnagian gigantism is largely explained by various ecological and evolutionary rules, Goliathan gigantism is not. A mechanistic hypothesis is proposed which explains Goliathan gigantism in terms of the reduction of oxygen requirements of individual fish via moving to cooler temperatures and/or acquiring larger, more energy-dense prey, which enable them to get bigger, and, in the process, sometimes generate bimodal size distributions that may qualify as gradual forms between Goliathan and Brobdingnagian gigantism. This mechanism, which relies on the manner in which their gill surface area grows, is more likely to operate in fish that can get big in the first place than in fish that remain small.

Microcurrent-Mediated Modulation of Myofibroblasts for Cardiac Repair and Regeneration.

Cardiovascular diseases are a significant cause of illness and death worldwide, often resulting in myofibroblast differentiation, pathological remodeling, and fibrosis, characterized by excessive extracellular matrix protein deposition. Treatment options for cardiac fibrosis that can effectively target myofibroblast activation and ECM deposition are limited, necessitating an unmet need for new therapeutic approaches. In recent years, microcurrent therapy has demonstrated promising therapeutic effects, showcasing its translational potential in cardiac care. This study therefore sought to investigate the effects of microcurrent therapy on cardiac myofibroblasts, aiming to unravel its potential as a treatment for cardiac fibrosis and heart failure. The experimental design involved the differentiation of primary rat cardiac fibroblasts into myofibroblasts. Subsequently, these cells were subjected to microcurrent (MC) treatment at 1 and 2 µA/cm2 DC with and without polarity reversal. We then investigated the impact of microcurrent treatment on myofibroblast cell behavior, including protein and gene expression, by performing various assays and analyses comparing them to untreated myofibroblasts and cardiac fibroblasts. The application of microcurrents resulted in distinct transcriptional signatures and improved cellular processes. Gene expression analysis showed alterations in myofibroblast markers, extracellular matrix components, and pro-inflammatory cytokines. These observations show signs of microcurrent-mediated reversal of myofibroblast phenotype, possibly reducing cardiac fibrosis, and providing insights for cardiac tissue repair.

The rostral micro-tooth morphology of blue marlin, Makaira nigricans.

Billfish rostra potentially have several functions; however, their role in feeding is unequivocal in some species. Recent work linked morphological variation in rostral micro-teeth to differences in feeding behavior in two billfish species, the striped marlin (Kajikia audax) and the sailfish (Istiophorus platypterus). Here, we present the rostral micro-tooth morphology for a third billfish species, the blue marlin (Makaira nigricans), for which the use of the rostrum in feeding behavior is still undocumented from systematic observations in the wild. We measured the micro-teeth on rostrum tips of blue marlin, striped marlin, and sailfish using a micro-computed tomography approach and compared the tooth morphology among the three species. This was done after an analysis of video-recorded hunting behavior of striped marlin and sailfish revealed that both species strike prey predominantly with the first third of the rostrum, which provided the justification to focus our analysis on the rostrum tips. In blue marlin, intact micro-teeth were longer compared to striped marlin but not to sailfish. Blue marlin had a higher fraction of broken teeth than both striped marlin and sailfish, and broken teeth were distributed more evenly on the rostrum. Micro-tooth regrowth was equally low in both marlin species but higher in sailfish. Based on the differences and similarities in the micro-tooth morphology between the billfish species, we discuss potential feeding-related rostrum use in blue marlin. We put forward the hypothesis that blue marlin might use their rostra in high-speed dashes as observed in striped marlin, rather than in the high-precision rostral strikes described for sailfish, possibly focusing on larger prey organisms.

Opinion Models, Election Data, and Political Theory.

A unifying setup for opinion models originating in statistical physics and stochastic opinion dynamics are developed and used to analyze election data. The results are interpreted in the light of political theory. We investigate the connection between Potts (Curie-Weiss) models and stochastic opinion models in the view of the Boltzmann distribution and stochastic Glauber dynamics. We particularly find that the q-voter model can be considered as a natural extension of the Zealot model, which is adapted by Lagrangian parameters. We also discuss weak and strong effects (also called extensive and nonextensive) continuum limits for the models. The results are used to compare the Curie-Weiss model, two q-voter models (weak and strong effects), and a reinforcement model (weak effects) in explaining electoral outcomes in four western democracies (United States, Great Britain, France, and Germany). We find that particularly the weak effects models are able to fit the data (Kolmogorov-Smirnov test) where the weak effects reinforcement model performs best (AIC). Additionally, we show how the institutional structure shapes the process of opinion formation. By focusing on the dynamics of opinion formation preceding the act of voting, the models discussed in this paper give insights both into the empirical explanation of elections as such, as well as important aspects of the theory of democracy. Therefore, this paper shows the usefulness of an interdisciplinary approach in studying real world political outcomes by using mathematical models.

Contact tracing & super-spreaders in the branching-process model.

In recent years, it became clear that super-spreader events play an important role, particularly in the spread of airborne infections. We investigate a novel model for super-spreader events, not based on a heterogeneous contact graph but on a random contact rate: Many individuals become infected synchronously in single contact events. We use the branching-process approach for contact tracing to analyze the impact of super-spreader events on the effect of contact tracing. Here we neglect a tracing delay. Roughly speaking, we find that contact tracing is more efficient in the presence of super-spreaders if the fraction of symptomatics is small, the tracing probability is high, or the latency period is distinctively larger than the incubation period. In other cases, the effect of contact tracing can be decreased by super-spreaders. Numerical analysis with parameters suited for SARS-CoV-2 indicates that super-spreaders do not decrease the effect of contact tracing crucially in case of that infection.

Quaternary megafauna extinctions altered body size distribution in tortoises.

The late Quaternary is characterized by the extinction of many terrestrial megafauna, which included tortoises (Family: Testudinidae). However, limited information is available on how extinction shaped the phenotype of surviving taxa. Here, based on a global dataset of straight carapace length, we investigate the temporal variation, spatial distribution and evolution of tortoise body size over the past 23 million years, thereby capturing the effects of Quaternary extinctions in this clade. We found a significant change in body size distribution characterized by a reduction of both mean body size and maximum body size of extant tortoises relative to fossil taxa. This reduction of body size occurred earlier in mainland (Early Pleistocene 2.588-0.781 Ma) than in island tortoises (Late Pleistocene/Holocene 0.126-0 Ma). Despite contrasting body size patterns between fossil and extant taxa on a spatial scale, tortoise body size showed limited variation over time until this decline. Body size is a fundamental functional trait determining many aspects of species ecologies, with large tortoises playing key roles as ecosystem engineers. As such, the transition from larger sized to smaller sized classes indicated by our findings likely resulted in the homogenization of tortoises' ecological functions and diminished the role of tortoises in structuring the vegetation community.

Publisher Correction: Stability, affinity, and chromatic variants of the glutamate sensor iGluSnFR.

In the version of this paper originally published, important figure labels in Fig. 3d were not visible. An image layer present in the authors' original figure that included two small dashed outlines and text labels indicating ROI 1 and ROI 2, as well as a scale bar and the name of the cell label, was erroneously altered during image processing. The figure has been corrected in the HTML and PDF versions of the paper.

Author Correction: Stability, affinity, and chromatic variants of the glutamate sensor iGluSnFR.

The version of this paper originally published cited a preprint version of ref. 12 instead of the published version (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 115, 5594-5599; 2018), which was available before this Nature Methods paper went to press. The reference information has been updated in the PDF and HTML versions of the article.

CD8+ T-Lymphocyte-Driven Limbic Encephalitis Results in Temporal Lobe Epilepsy.

OBJECTIVE: Limbic encephalitis (LE) comprises a spectrum of inflammatory changes in affected brain structures including the presence of autoantibodies and lymphoid cells. However, the potential of distinct lymphocyte subsets alone to elicit key clinicopathological sequelae of LE potentially inducing temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) with chronic spontaneous seizures and hippocampal sclerosis (HS) is unresolved. METHODS: Here, we scrutinized pathogenic consequences emerging from CD8+ T cells targeting hippocampal neurons by recombinant adeno-associated virus-mediated expression of the model-autoantigen ovalbumin (OVA) in CA1 neurons of OT-I/RAG1-/- mice (termed "OVA-CD8+ LE model"). RESULTS: Viral-mediated antigen transfer caused dense CD8+ T cell infiltrates confined to the hippocampal formation starting on day 5 after virus transduction. Flow cytometry indicated priming of CD8+ T cells in brain-draining lymph nodes preceding hippocampal invasion. At the acute model stage, the inflammatory process was accompanied by frequent seizure activity and impairment of hippocampal memory skills. Magnetic resonance imaging scans at day 7 of the OVA-CD8+ LE model revealed hippocampal edema and blood-brain barrier disruption that converted into atrophy until day 40. CD8+ T cells specifically targeted OVA-expressing, SIINFEKL-H-2Kb -positive CA1 neurons and caused segmental apoptotic neurodegeneration, astrogliosis, and microglial activation. At the chronic model stage, mice exhibited spontaneous recurrent seizures and persisting memory deficits, and the sclerotic hippocampus was populated with CD8+ T cells escorted by NK cells. INTERPRETATION: These data indicate that a CD8+ T-cell-initiated attack of distinct hippocampal neurons is sufficient to induce LE converting into TLE-HS. Intriguingly, the role of CD8+ T cells exceeds neurotoxic effects and points to their major pathogenic role in TLE following LE. ANN NEUROL 2021;89:666-685.

Size Effects of the Anions in the Ionothermal Synthesis of Carbon Nitride Materials.

Semiconducting carbon nitride polymers are used in metal-free photocatalysts and in opto-electronic devices. Conventionally, they are obtained using thermal and ionothermal syntheses in inscrutable, closed systems and therefore, their condensation behavior is poorly understood. Here, the synthetic protocols and properties are compared for two types of carbon nitride materials - 2D layered poly(triazine imide) (PTI) and hydrogen-bonded melem hydrate - obtained from three low-melting salt eutectics taken from the systematic series of the alkali metal halides: LiCl/KCl, LiBr/KBr, and LiI/KI. The size of the anion plays a significant role in the formation process of the condensed carbon nitride polymers, and it suggests a strong templating effect. The smaller anions (chloride and bromide) become incorporated into triazine (C3 N3 )-based PTI frameworks. The larger iodide does not stabilize the formation of a triazine-based polymer, but instead it leads to the formation of the heptazine (C6 N7 )-based hydrogen-bonded melem hydrate as the main crystalline phase. Melem hydrate, obtained as single-crystalline powders, was compared with PTI in photocatalytic hydrogen evolution from water and in an OLED device. Further, the emergence of each carbon nitride species from its corresponding salt eutectic was rationalized via density functional theory calculations. This study highlights the possibilities to further tailor the properties of eutectic salt melts for ionothermal synthesis of organic functional materials.

The temporal profile of activity-dependent presynaptic phospho-signalling reveals long-lasting patterns of poststimulus regulation.

Depolarization of presynaptic terminals stimulates calcium influx, which evokes neurotransmitter release and activates phosphorylation-based signalling. Here, we present the first global temporal profile of presynaptic activity-dependent phospho-signalling, which includes two KCl stimulation levels and analysis of the poststimulus period. We profiled 1,917 regulated phosphopeptides and bioinformatically identified six temporal patterns of co-regulated proteins. The presynaptic proteins with large changes in phospho-status were again prominently regulated in the analysis of 7,070 activity-dependent phosphopeptides from KCl-stimulated cultured hippocampal neurons. Active zone scaffold proteins showed a high level of activity-dependent phospho-regulation that far exceeded the response from postsynaptic density scaffold proteins. Accordingly, bassoon was identified as the major target of neuronal phospho-signalling. We developed a probabilistic computational method, KinSwing, which matched protein kinase substrate motifs to regulated phosphorylation sites to reveal underlying protein kinase activity. This approach allowed us to link protein kinases to profiles of co-regulated presynaptic protein networks. Ca2+- and calmodulin-dependent protein kinase IIα (CaMKIIα) responded rapidly, scaled with stimulus strength, and had long-lasting activity. Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)/extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) was the main protein kinase predicted to control a distinct and significant pattern of poststimulus up-regulation of phosphorylation. This work provides a unique resource of activity-dependent phosphorylation sites of synaptosomes and neurons, the vast majority of which have not been investigated with regard to their functional impact. This resource will enable detailed characterization of the phospho-regulated mechanisms impacting the plasticity of neurotransmitter release.

Functional genomics of abiotic environmental adaptation in lacertid lizards and other vertebrates.

Understanding the genomic basis of adaptation to different abiotic environments is important in the context of climate change and resulting short-term environmental fluctuations. Using functional and comparative genomics approaches, we here investigated whether signatures of genomic adaptation to a set of environmental parameters are concentrated in specific subsets of genes and functions in lacertid lizards and other vertebrates. We first identify 200 genes with signatures of positive diversifying selection from transcriptomes of 24 species of lacertid lizards and demonstrate their involvement in physiological and morphological adaptations to climate. To understand how functionally similar these genes are to previously predicted candidate functions for climate adaptation and to compare them with other vertebrate species, we then performed a meta-analysis of 1,100 genes under selection obtained from -omics studies in vertebrate species adapted to different abiotic factors. We found that the vertebrate gene set formed a tightly connected interactome, which was to 23% enriched in previously predicted functions of adaptation to climate, and to a large part (18%) involved in organismal stress response. We found a much higher degree of identical genes being repeatedly selected among different animal groups (43.6%), and of functional similarity and post-translational modifications than expected by chance, and no clear functional division between genes used for ectotherm and endotherm physiological strategies. In total, 171 out of 200 genes of Lacertidae were part of this network. These results highlight an important role of a comparatively small set of genes and their functions in environmental adaptation and narrow the set of candidate pathways and markers to be used in future research on adaptation and stress response related to climate change.

Pre-emptive active drainage of reflux (PARD) in Ivor-Lewis oesophagectomy with negative pressure and simultaneous enteral nutrition using a double-lumen open-pore film drain (dOFD).

BACKGROUND: Postoperative reflux can compromise anastomotic healing after Ivor-Lewis oesophagectomy (ILE). We report on Pre-emptive Active Reflux Drainage (PARD) using a new double-lumen open-pore film drain (dOFD) with negative pressure to protect the anastomosis. METHODS: To prepare a dOFD, the gastric channel of a triluminal tube (Freka®Trelumina, Fresenius) is coated with a double-layered open-pore film (Suprasorb®CNP drainage film, Lohmann & Rauscher) over 25 cm. The ventilation channel is blocked. The filmcoated segment is placed in the stomach and the intestinal feeding tube in the duodenum. Negative pressure is applied with an electronic vacuum pump (- 125 mmHg, continuous suction) to the gastric channel. Depending on the findings in the endoscopic control, PARD will either be continued or terminated. RESULTS: PARD was used in 24 patients with ILE and started intraoperatively. Healing was observed in all the anastomoses. The median duration of PARD was 8 days (range 4-21). In 10 of 24 patients (40%) there were issues with anastomotic healing which we defined as "at-risk anastomosis". No additional endoscopic procedures or surgical revisions to the anastomoses were required. CONCLUSIONS: PARD with dOFD contributes to the protection of anastomosis after ILE. Negative pressure applied to the dOFD (a nasogastric tube) enables enteral nutrition to be delivered simultaneously with permanent evacuation and decompression.

Ecomorphological diversification in squamates from conserved pattern of cranial integration.

Factors intrinsic and extrinsic to organisms dictate the course of morphological evolution but are seldom considered together in comparative analyses. Among vertebrates, squamates (lizards and snakes) exhibit remarkable morphological and developmental variations that parallel their incredible ecological spectrum. However, this exceptional diversity also makes systematic quantification and analysis of their morphological evolution challenging. We present a squamate-wide, high-density morphometric analysis of the skull across 181 modern and extinct species to identify the primary drivers of their cranial evolution within a unified, quantitative framework. Diet and habitat preferences, but not reproductive mode, are major influences on skull-shape evolution across squamates, with fossorial and aquatic taxa exhibiting convergent and rapid changes in skull shape. In lizards, diet is associated with the shape of the rostrum, reflecting its use in grasping prey, whereas snakes show a correlation between diet and the shape of posterior skull bones important for gape widening. Similarly, we observe the highest rates of evolution and greatest disparity in regions associated with jaw musculature in lizards, whereas those forming the jaw articulation evolve faster in snakes. In addition, high-resolution ancestral cranial reconstructions from these data support a terrestrial, nonfossorial origin for snakes. Despite their disparate evolutionary trends, lizards and snakes unexpectedly share a common pattern of trait integration, with the highest correlations in the occiput, jaw articulation, and palate. We thus demonstrate that highly diverse phenotypes, exemplified by lizards and snakes, can and do arise from differential selection acting on conserved patterns of phenotypic integration.