Body temperature is a crucial variable in animals that affects nearly every aspect of their lives. Here we analyze for the first time largescale patterns in the evolution of body temperatures across terrestrial vertebrates (tetrapods: including amphibians, mammals, birds and other reptiles). Despite the traditional view that endotherms (birds and mammals) have higher body temperatures than ectotherms, we find they are not significantly different. However, rates of body‐temperature evolution are significantly different, with lower rates in endotherms than ectotherms, and the highest rates in amphibians. We find that body temperatures show strong phylogenetic signal and conservatism over 350 million years of evolutionary history in tetrapods, and some lineages appear to have retained similar body temperatures over time for hundreds of millions of years. Although body temperatures are often unrelated to climate in tetrapods, we find that body temperatures are significantly related to day‐night activity patterns. Specifically, body temperatures are generally higher in diurnal species than nocturnal species, both across ectotherms and, surprisingly, across endotherms also. Overall, our results suggest that body temperatures are significantly linked to phylogeny and diel‐activity patterns within and among tetrapod groups, rather than just climate and the endotherm‐ectotherm divide.

Parthenogenesis is rare in nature. With 39 described true parthenogens, scaled reptiles (Squamata) are the only vertebrates that evolved this reproductive strategy. Parthenogenesis is ecologically advantageous in the short term, but the young age and rarity of parthenogenetic species indicate it is less advantageous in the long term. This suggests parthenogenesis is self-destructive: it arises often but is lost due to increased extinction rates, high rates of reversal or both. However, this role of parthenogenesis as a self-destructive trait remains unknown. We used a phylogeny of Squamata (5388 species), tree metrics, null simulations and macroevolutionary scenarios of trait diversification to address the factors that best explain the rarity of parthenogenetic species. We show that parthenogenesis can be considered as self-destructive, with high extinction rates mainly responsible for its rarity in nature. Since these parthenogenetic species occur, this trait should be ecologically relevant in the short term.

The IUCN provides a spatial database for many species, including terrestrial mammals. This database includes shapefiles with taxonomic information and the extent of occurrence for each species, and has been used in hundreds of studies in ecology, biogeography and conservation. Here we provide updated distribution maps that comprise the extent of occurrence of the neotropical bat species in the superfamily Noctilionoidea (Mammalia: Chiroptera) after a thorough research of new records published between January 2008 and March 2018. The main motivation for this update was the inclusion of spatial and climatic variables in explaining the ecological and taxonomic diversity of noctilionoid bats. The core of the superfamily (246 species distributed in five families out of 250 species) occurs in the Neotropics and shows ecological diversity unparalleled among mammals. This clade also shows the only evolutionary shift towards higher speciation rates within the order Chiroptera. Updating the range maps for these bats resulted in the modification of maps of 94 species, and the creation of new maps for 37 species missing from the IUCN database. From the 94 modified maps, 55 species increased their latitudinal range and 38 increased their longitudinal range. These modifications did not change the overall extent of occurrence of the clade. Altogether, modified and new maps represent 53% of Noctilionoidea. No copyright or proprietary restrictions are associated with the use of this data set other than citation of this Data Paper.

Climate change will impact environments globally. These changes, however, can affect species or regions differently. The upward limitation of high‐mountain species suggests these are especially prone to the effects of climate change. We assess the impact of future climate scenarios on high‐mountain species' suitable climatic niches. We gathered 1351 occurrence records of high‐mountain (>2000 m asl) squamates and assessed species distribution models for those species occupying more than 10 unique grid‐cells. Afterwards, for each species we ensemble climatic‐niche suitability models for historic (1981–2010) and future climate scenarios (2011–2040, 2041–2070, 2071–2100) for two representative concentration pathways (RCP 2.6 and 8.5). We identified 252 high‐elevation squamate species that occur in Africa, Asia, North America and South America. When we examined species distribution models for the 17 lizard species occupying more than 10 unique grid‐cells, we found a consistent negative effect of future climate change on suitable climatic‐niche models: we inferred species' climatic‐niche losses for 16 species and species' climatic‐niche gains for 1 species. Regardless of future scenarios, two species of lizards will likely lose at least 80% of their suitable climatic niche, and seven species will likely see their suitable climatic niche completely disappear. Climate change will likely have a negative impact on species' suitable climatic‐niche availability. High altitude and associated environmental factors may accelerate local extinctions of mountain reptiles. We highlight the importance of identifying high‐risk species for better conservation efforts.