# Topics and Trends in Most Cited Amphibian and Reptile Biology Papers, Class of 2026

*Canonical URL: https://pri.pepkio.com/top-papers/amphibian-and-reptile-biology/2026*

## What topics and trends defined most-cited Amphibian and Reptile Biology research in the Class of 2026?

Amphibian and reptile biology in the Class of 2026 is anchored by conservation planning, IUCN Red List assessments, and mitochondrial DNA studies. Research shifted significantly toward fungal pathogen dynamics, particularly Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis and invasive species threats, while traditional species distribution modelling experienced a sharp decline compared to the previous cohort.

## At a glance

| Fact | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Field | Amphibian and Reptile Biology |
| Cohort label | Class of 2026 (2024 publications) |
| Papers analyzed | 3,901 |
| Papers ranked | 20 |
| Top topics in ranked papers | Conservation planning, mitochondrial DNA, IUCN Red List, fungal pathogens, divergence time estimation |
| Publication window | Jan 1, 2024 – Dec 31, 2024 |
| Eligibility | Research articles; reviews excluded |
| Citation window | 18 months post-publication |
| 18m citation range | 14–57 |
| Data source | OpenAlex · Retrieved Jul 2026 |
| License | CC BY 4.0 |

## Rankings

| Rank | Title | Authors | Corresponding authors | Affiliation | Journal | 18m citations | DOI |
| ---: | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ---: | --- |
| 1 | The macroevolutionary singularity of snakes | Pascal O Title, Sonal Singhal, Michael C Grundler, Gabriel C Costa, R Alexander Pyron, Timothy J Colston, Maggie R Grundler, Ivan Prates, Natasha Stepanova, Marc E H Jones, Lucas B Q Cavalcanti, Guarino R Colli, Nicolas Di-Poï, Stephen C Donnellan, Craig Moritz, Daniel O Mesquita, Eric R Pianka, Stephen A Smith, Laurie J Vitt, Daniel L Rabosky | Pascal O. Title, Sonal Singhal, Daniel L. Rabosky | Stony Brook University, United States | Science | 57 | 10.1126/science.adh2449 |
| 2 | <scp>SquamBase</scp>—A database of squamate (Reptilia: Squamata) traits | Shai Meiri | Shai Meiri | Tel Aviv University, Israel | Global Ecology and Biogeography | 32 | 10.1111/geb.13812 |
| 3 | Hotspot shelters stimulate frog resistance to chytridiomycosis | Anthony W Waddle, Simon Clulow, Amy Aquilina, Erin L Sauer, Shannon W Kaiser, Claire Miller, Jennifer A Flegg, Patricia T Campbell, Harrison Gallagher, Ivana Dimovski, Yorick Lambreghts, Lee Berger, Lee F Skerratt, Richard Shine | Anthony W. Waddle | University of Melbourne, Australia | Nature | 28 | 10.1038/s41586-024-07582-y |
| 4 | A phylogeny-informed characterisation of global tetrapod traits addresses data gaps and biases | Mario R Moura, Karoline Ceron, Jhonny J M Guedes, Rosana Chen-Zhao, Yanina V Sica, Julie Hart, Wendy Dorman, Julia M Portmann, Pamela González-Del-Pliego, Ajay Ranipeta, Alessandro Catenazzi, Fernanda P Werneck, Luís Felipe Toledo, Nathan S Upham, João F R Tonini, Timothy J Colston, Robert Guralnick, Rauri C K Bowie, R Alexander Pyron, Walter Jetz | Mario R. Moura, Karoline Ceron, Jhonny J. M. Guedes, Rosana Chen-Zhao, Yanina V. Sica, Julie A. Hart, Wendy A. Dorman, Julia M. Portmann, Pamela González‐del‐Pliego, Ajay Ranipeta, Alessandro Catenazzi, Fernanda P. Werneck, Luı́s Felipe Toledo, Nathan S. Upham, João F. R. Tonini, Timothy J. Colston, Robert Guralnick, Rauri C. K. Bowie, R. Alexander Pyron, Walter Jetz | Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Brazil | PLoS Biology | 26 | 10.1371/journal.pbio.3002658 |
| 5 | A time-calibrated salamander phylogeny including 765 species and 503 genes | Alexander A Stewart, John J Wiens | Alexander A. Stewart | University of Arizona, United States | Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution | 24 | 10.1016/j.ympev.2024.108272 |
| 6 | Hidden hotspots of amphibian biodiversity in China | Wei Xu, Yun-He Wu, Wei-Wei Zhou, Hong-Man Chen, Bao-Lin Zhang, Jin-Min Chen, Weihua Xu, Ding-Qi Rao, Haipeng Zhao, Fang Yan, Zhiyong Yuan, Ke Jiang, Jie-Qiong Jin, Mian Hou, Dahu Zou, Li-Jun Wang, Yuchi Zheng, Jia-Tang Li, Jianping Jiang, Xiao-Mao Zeng, Youhua Chen, Zi-Yan Liao, Cheng Li, Xue-You Li, Wei Gao, Kai Wang, Dong-Ru Zhang, Chenqi Lu, Tingting Yin, Zhaoli Ding, Gui-Gang Zhao, Jing Chai, Wen-Ge Zhao, Ya-Ping Zhang, John J Wiens, Jing Che | Wei Xu, Yun‐He Wu, Weihua Xu, John J. Wiens, Jing Che | Kunming Institute of Zoology, China | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences | 22 | 10.1073/pnas.2320674121 |
| 7 | Phylogenomic insights into the diversity and evolution of Palearctic vipers | Christophe Dufresnes, Samuele Ghielmi, Bálint Halpern, Fernando Martínez-Freiría, Konrad Mebert, Dusan Jelić, Jelka Crnobrnja-Isailović, Sven Gippner, Daniel Jablonski, Ulrich Joger, Lorenzo Laddaga, Silviu Petrovan, Ljiljana Tomović, Judit Vörös, Naşit İğci, Mert Kariş, Oleksandr Zinenko, Sylvain Ursenbacher | Christophe Dufresnes | Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, France | Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution | 22 | 10.1016/j.ympev.2024.108095 |
| 8 | Piecing the barcoding puzzle of Palearctic water frogs (<i>Pelophylax</i>) sheds light on amphibian biogeography and global invasions | Christophe Dufresnes, Benjamin Monod-Broca, Adriana Bellati, Daniele Canestrelli, Johanna Ambu, Ben Wielstra, Sylvain Dubey, Pierre-André Crochet, Mathieu Denoël, Daniel Jablonski | Christophe Dufresnes | Nanjing Forestry University, China | Global Change Biology | 20 | 10.1111/gcb.17180 |
| 9 | The genetic regulatory architecture and epigenomic basis for age-related changes in rattlesnake venom | Michael P Hogan, Matthew L Holding, Gunnar S Nystrom, Timothy J Colston, Daniel A Bartlett, Andrew J Mason, Schyler A Ellsworth, Rhett M Rautsaw, Kylie C Lawrence, Jason L Strickland, Bing He, Peter Fraser, Mark J Margres, David M Gilbert, H Lisle Gibbs, Christopher L Parkinson, Darin R Rokyta | Darin R. Rokyta | Florida State University, United States | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences | 19 | 10.1073/pnas.2313440121 |
| 10 | A pulse check for trends in sea turtle numbers across the globe | Graeme C Hays, Gail Schofield, Maria Papazekou, Anastasia Chatzimentor, Stelios Katsanevakis, Antonios D Mazaris | Graeme C. Hays | Deakin University, Australia | iScience | 19 | 10.1016/j.isci.2024.109071 |
| 11 | Building pondscapes for amphibian metapopulations | Helen Moor, Ariel Bergamini, Christoph Vorburger, Rolf Holderegger, Christoph Bühler, Nicolas Bircher, Benedikt R Schmidt | Helen Moor | Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL, Switzerland | Conservation Biology | 19 | 10.1111/cobi.14281 |
| 12 | Climate change-related distributional range shifts of venomous snakes: a predictive modelling study of effects on public health and biodiversity | Pablo Ariel Martinez, Irene Barbosa da Fonseca Teixeira, Tuany Siqueira-Silva, Franciely Fernanda Barbosa da Silva, Luiz Antônio Gonzaga Lima, Jonatas Chaves-Silveira, Miguel Ångel Olalla-Tárraga, José María Gutiérrez, Talita Ferreira Amado | Pablo Ariel Martínez, Talita Ferreira Amado | Universidade Federal de Sergipe, Brazil | The Lancet Planetary Health | 18 | 10.1016/s2542-5196(24)00005-6 |
| 13 | Global conservation status of the jawed vertebrate Tree of Life | Rikki Gumbs, Oenone Scott, Ryan Bates, Monika Böhm, Félix Forest, Claudia L Gray, Michael Hoffmann, Daniel Kane, Christopher Low, William D Pearse, Sebastian Pipins, Benjamin Tapley, Samuel T Turvey, Walter Jetz, Nisha R Owen, James Rosindell | Rikki Gumbs | Zoological Society of London, United Kingdom | Nature Communications | 17 | 10.1038/s41467-024-45119-z |
| 14 | Phenological mismatches mitigate the ecological impact of a biological invader on amphibian communities | Teun Everts, Charlotte Van Driessche, Sabrina Neyrinck, Annelies Haegeman, Tom Ruttink, Hans Jacquemyn, Rein Brys | Teun Everts | Research Institute for Nature and Forest, Belgium | Ecological Applications | 17 | 10.1002/eap.3017 |
| 15 | Diversity and Evolution of Frog Visual Opsins: Spectral Tuning and Adaptation to Distinct Light Environments | Ryan K Schott, Matthew K Fujita, Jeffrey W Streicher, David J Gower, Kate N Thomas, Ellis R Loew, Abraham G Bamba Kaya, Gabriela B Bittencourt-Silva, C Guillherme Becker, Diego Cisneros-Heredia, Simon Clulow, Mateo Davila, Thomas J Firneno, Célio F B Haddad, Sunita Janssenswillen, Jim Labisko, Simon T Maddock, Michael Mahony, Renato A Martins, Christopher J Michaels, Nicola J Mitchell, Daniel M Portik, Ivan Prates, Kim Roelants, Corey Roelke, Elie Tobi, Maya Woolfolk, Rayna C Bell | Ryan K Schott | York University, Canada | Molecular Biology and Evolution | 16 | 10.1093/molbev/msae049 |
| 16 | Convergent evolution toward a slow pace of life predisposes insular endotherms to anthropogenic extinctions | Ying Xiong, Roberto Rozzi, Yizhou Zhang, Liqing Fan, Jidong Zhao, Dongming Li, Yongfang Yao, Hongtao Xiao, Jing Liu, Xianyin Zeng, Huailiang Xu, Yanzhi Jiang, Fumin Lei | Ying Xiong, Roberto Rozzi, Yizhou Zhang, Fumin Lei | Sichuan Agricultural University, China | Science Advances | 15 | 10.1126/sciadv.adm8240 |
| 17 | Unnecessary splitting of genus-level clades reduces taxonomic stability in amphibians | Stephen Mahony, Rachunliu G. Kamei, Rafe M. Brown, Kin Onn Chan | Stephen Mahony | The Natural History Museum, United Kingdom | Vertebrate Zoology | 14 | 10.3897/vz.74.e114285 |
| 18 | Evolutionary bursts drive morphological novelty in the world’s largest skinks | Ian G Brennan, David G Chapple, J Scott Keogh, Stephen Donnellan | Ian G. Brennan | Natural History Museum, United Kingdom | Current Biology | 14 | 10.1016/j.cub.2024.07.039 |
| 19 | An integrative taxonomic revision of the Trimeresurus popeiorum group of pitvipers (Reptilia: Serpentes: Viperidae) with descriptions of two new species from the Indo-Burma Biodiversity Hotspot | Sabira S. Idiiatullina, Tan Van Nguyen, Parinya Pawangkhanant, Chatmongkon Suwannapoom, Lawan Chanhome, Zeeshan A. Mirza, Patrick David, Gernot Vogel, Nikolay A. Poyarkov | Sabira S. Idiiatullina | Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia | Vertebrate Zoology | 14 | 10.3897/vz.74.e113347 |
| 20 | Amphibians Exhibit Extremely High Hydric Costs of Respiration | Eric A Riddell, Isabella J Burger, Martha M Muñoz, Savannah J Weaver, Molly C Womack | Eric A. Riddell | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, United States | Integrative and Comparative Biology | 14 | 10.1093/icb/icae053 |

## Topic trends

### What Topics Define the Class of 2026?

The Class of 2026 in amphibian and reptile biology reflects a field heavily concentrated on biodiversity preservation, molecular phylogenetics, and physiological adaptability. Conservation planning remains the single most prominent thematic anchor, featuring in 14% of highly cited publications, closely paired with formal IUCN Red List risk assessments (10%) and protected area design (6%). Molecular approaches continue to underpin herpetological taxonomy and evolutionary studies, with mitochondrial DNA markers appearing in 10% of top papers alongside nuclear DNA markers and divergence time estimation (8%).

A major driver of recent high-impact literature is the ecology and mitigation of infectious diseases. The chytrid fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) and associated chytridiomycosis account for 8% of top studies, highlighting ongoing global efforts to monitor amphibian declines and bolster host immune responses. Meanwhile, organismal biology and eco-physiology retain significant attention, focused on thermoregulation (8%), thermal sensitivity, and diel activity patterns in response to environmental microclimates. Together, these clusters underscore an integrative research paradigm where molecular tools, disease monitoring, and physiological assessments directly inform habitat conservation and extinction risk management across global reptile and amphibian populations.

*Leading research themes*

### How Did Topics Shift from the Class of 2025 to the Class of 2026?

Comparing the Class of 2025 and Class of 2026 cohorts reveals clear shifts in herpetological research priorities. The most dramatic rise occurs in disease ecology and biological invasions. Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) surged from unranked status in 2023 to 8% of top papers in 2024, accompanied by increased attention to host-microbiome interactions and invasive species like the American bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus). Similarly, mitochondrial DNA markers expanded 2.5-fold (from 4% to 10%), reflecting a resurgence in barcode-assisted species discovery and cryptic diversity mapping across vulnerable ecosystems.

Conversely, standalone species distribution modelling suffered the sharpest contraction, dropping from 12% of top-cited publications in the 2025 cohort to just 4% in 2026. This decline suggests a transition away from macroecological habitat mapping toward mechanistic disease modeling, integrative taxonomy, and empirical thermal physiology. Broad phylogenomic surveys and climate change projections also experienced modest pullbacks as researchers shifted focus toward actionable conservation planning, protected area connectivity, and targeted threat intensity evaluations.

*How topics shifted year over year*

## Cite this ranking

```
Pepkio Research Index (PRI). Topics and Trends in Most Cited Amphibian and Reptile Biology Papers, Class of 2026. https://pri.pepkio.com/top-papers/amphibian-and-reptile-biology/2026. Accessed 2026-07-22.

Zheng Su, Tinsley Li, Thematic Shifts in Early-High-Impact Cancer Genomics and Diagnostics Research: A Bibliometric and Semantic Analysis. bioRxiv 2026.07.04.736459; doi: https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.07.04.736459
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