Horváth Gergely
Department of Systematic Zoology and Ecology, Institute of Biology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Pázmány Péter Sétány 1/c, 1117 Budapest, Hungary.
HUN-REN-ELTE-MTM Integrative Ecology Research Group, Pázmány Péter Sétány 1/c, 1117 Budapest, Hungary.
Biology (Basel). 2025 Aug 24;14(9):1119. doi: 10.3390/biology14091119.
Spinal deformities-such as kyphosis, scoliosis, and lordosis-are observed across all major vertebrate groups. Reports in wild reptiles are increasing but are mainly published in natural history notes as curiosities, with little exploration of their aetiology, pathology, prevalence, or consideration of potential ecological, evolutionary, and life history implications. Addressing this gap, I compiled the most comprehensive database to date by reviewing the peer-reviewed and grey literature and collecting unpublished records via standardised social media inquiries. I identified 690 observations from 146 sources, covering 109 reptile species in 24 families across 37 countries. Spinal deformities appear across all major reptile clades, though Testudines are over-represented (78.6% of all observations and 42.2% of all species). A phylogenetic meta-analysis of 54 effect sizes from 37 species yielded a global prevalence estimate of 0.21%, with no significant effects of phylogeny, habitat use, or habitat type detected, possibly due to dataset limitations. However, kyphosis was more common in (semi)aquatic Testudines, whereas scoliosis was more frequent in terrestrial squamates. Although deformities may impair key life history traits, supporting evidence remains scarce. The findings highlight the understudied nature of spinal deformities in wild reptiles and underscore the need for standardised, ecologically informed reporting to better understand their causes and consequences.
脊柱畸形——如脊柱后凸、脊柱侧凸和脊柱前凸——在所有主要脊椎动物类群中均有观察到。野生爬行动物的相关报道日益增多，但主要作为奇闻轶事发表在自然历史笔记中，对其病因、病理、患病率的探索较少，也未考虑其潜在的生态、进化和生活史影响。为填补这一空白，我通过查阅同行评审文献和灰色文献，并通过标准化的社交媒体查询收集未发表的记录，编制了迄今为止最全面的数据库。我从146个来源中识别出690条观察记录，涵盖37个国家24个科的109种爬行动物。脊柱畸形出现在所有主要的爬行动物类群中，不过龟鳖目动物的占比过高（占所有观察记录的78.6%，占所有物种的42.2%）。对37个物种的54个效应量进行系统发育荟萃分析，得出全球患病率估计为0.21%，未检测到系统发育、栖息地利用或栖息地类型的显著影响，这可能是由于数据集的局限性。然而，脊柱后凸在（半）水生龟鳖目动物中更为常见，而脊柱侧凸在陆生有鳞目动物中更为频繁。尽管畸形可能会损害关键的生活史特征，但支持这一观点的证据仍然很少。这些发现凸显了野生爬行动物脊柱畸形研究不足的现状，并强调需要进行标准化的、基于生态学的报告，以更好地了解其原因和后果。
