Margareta Lakušić, Costanza Piccoli, Marko Anđelković, Kostadin Andonov, Ivona Burić, José Carlos Brito, Angel Dyugmedzhiev, Saudin Merdan, Lennart Schmid, Elias Tzoras, Benjamin Florian-Hempel, Fernando Martínez-Freiría
Understanding intraspecific venom variation requires distinguishing the contributions of neutral population history from natural selection. This study aims to determine whether venom variation in the Vipera ammodytes species complex is structured across eight phylogenetic lineages. Despite a complex evolutionary history, venom composition did not differ among phylogenetic units within the analytical framework used, suggesting that shared ancestry alone does not explain venom variation. Whether local adaptation to environmental conditions explains the observed variation remains an open question for future studies.