DOI: 10.5061/dryad.w0vt4b93t
title: Data from: Generation length of the world's amphibians and reptiles

description: Variation in life histories influences demographic processes, from
 adaptive changes to population declines leading to extinction. Among life
 history traits, generation length offers a critical feature to forecast
 species’ demographic trajectories such as population declines (widely used
 by the IUCN Red List) and adaptability to environmental change over time.
 Therefore, estimates of generation length are crucial to monitor
 demographic stability or predict future changes in highly threatened
 organisms, particularly amphibians and reptiles, which are particularly
 threatened among vertebrates and for which uncertainty in future impacts
 remains high. Despite its importance, generation length for amphibians and
 reptiles is largely missing. Here, we aim to fill-in this gap by modeling
 generation lengths for amphibians, squamates and testudines as a function
 of species size, climate, life history, and phylogeny using generalized
 additive models and phylogenetic generalized least squares. We estimated
 generation lengths for 5,059 (57%) amphibians, 8,722 (73%) squamates and
 117 (32%) testudines. Our models performed well for most families (e.g.,
 Bufonidae among amphibians, Lacertidae and Colubridae among squamates, and
 Geoemydidae among testudines), while we found high uncertainty around the
 prediction of a few families, notably Chamaeleonidae. Species’ body size
 and mean temperature were the main predictors of generation length in all
 groups. Although our estimates are not meant to substitute robust and
 validated measurements from field studies or natural history museums, they
 can help reduce existing biases in conservation assessments until field
 data will be comprehensively available.
description: # Generation length of the world's amphibians and reptiles
 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.w0vt4b93t](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.w0vt4b93t) ## Description of the data and file structure ### Files and variables #### File: amphibian\_full\_data.csv **Description:**  ##### Variables * scientificName: (character) species binomial * generation_length_y: (numeric) average generation length in years * source_GL: (character) source of generation length * generation_length_y.pgls: (numeric) average generation length in years predicted by PGLS * generation_length_y.gam: (numeric) average generation length in years predicted by GAM * Body_mass_g: (numeric) species body mass in grams, NAs represent missing data * source_bodymass: (character) source of body mass, NAs represent missing data * SVL_mm: (numeric) species snout-vent length in mm, NAs represent missing data * source_SVL: (character) source of SVL, NAs represent missing data * bio01: (numeric) annual temperature in °C * bio04: (numeric) temperature seasonality °C/100 * bio12: (numeric) annual precipitation in kg m-2 year-1 * bio15: (numeric) precipitation seasonality kg m-2 * life_history_mode: (character) life history modes, NAs represent missing data * eigenV_c8: (numeric) phylogenetic eigenvector, NAs represent missing data * eigenV_c99: (numeric) phylogenetic eigenvector, NAs represent missing data * eigenV_c62: (numeric) phylogenetic eigenvector, NAs represent missing data * eigenV_c71: (numeric) phylogenetic eigenvector, NAs represent missing data * familyName: (character) species family * family.LOO.NRMSE.gam: (numeric) NRMSE for leave one out validation for GAM, NAs only for species not used to calibrate models * family.LOO.RMSE.gam: (numeric) RMSE for leave one out validation for GAM, NAs only for species not used to calibrate models * family.dimension: (numeric) number of species per family in training set, NAs only for species not used to calibrate models * family.block.RMSE.gam: (numeric) RMSE for family block validation for GAM, NAs only for species not used to calibrate models * family.block.NRMSE.gam: (numeric) NRMSE for family block validation for GAM, NAs only for species not used to calibrate models * family.block.RMSE.pgls: (numeric) RMSE for family block validation for PGLS, NAs only for species not used to calibrate models * family.block.NRMSE.pgls: (numeric) NRMSE for family block validation for PGLS, NAs only for species not used to calibrate models * family.LOO.RMSE.pgls: (numeric) RMSE for leave one out validation for PGLS, NAs only for species not used to calibrate models * family.LOO.NRMSE.pgls: (numeric) NRMSE for leave one out validation for PGLS, NAs only for species not used to calibrate models #### File: generation\_length\_herps.csv **Description:**  ##### Variables * internalTaxonId: (numeric) IUCN ID for the species * scientificName: (character) species binomial * generation_length_y: (numeric) average generation length in years * source_GL: (character) source of generation length * familyName: (character) species family * family.LOO.NRMSE.avg: (numeric) average NRMSE of PGLS and GAM leave one out validation, NAs only for species not used to calibrate models * group: (character) species group: amphibian, squamata or testudines #### File: testudines\_full\_data.csv **Description:**  ##### Variables * scientificName: (character) species binomial * generation_length_y: (numeric) average generation length in years - generation_length_y.pgls: (numeric) average generation length in years predicted by PGLS * generation_length_y.gam: (numeric) average generation length in years predicted by GAM - source_GL: (character) source of generation length - Body_mass_g: (numeric) species body mass in grams, NAs represent missing data * bio01: (numeric) annual temperature in °C * bio04: (numeric) temperature seasonality °C/100 * bio12: (numeric) annual precipitation in kg m-2 year-1 * bio15: (numeric) precipitation seasonality kg m-2 - Insularity: (character) species insularity, NAs represent missing data - Max_longevity_d: (numeric) species maximum longevity in days, NAs represent missing data - source_MaxLongevity: (character) source of maximum longevity, NAs represent missing data - Maturity_d: (numeric) species age at maturity in days, NAs represent missing data - source_maturity: (character) source of age at maturity, NAs represent missing data - familyName: (character) species family - family.LOO.NRMSE.gam: (numeric) NRMSE for leave one out validation for GAM - family.LOO.RMSE.gam: (numeric) RMSE for leave one out validation for GAM - family.dimension: (numeric) number of species per family in training set, NAs only for species not used to calibrate models - source_bodymass: (character) source of body mass, NAs represent missing data - family.block.RMSE.gam: (numeric) RMSE for family block validation for GAM, NAs only for species not used to calibrate models - family.block.NRMSE.gam: (numeric) NRMSE for family block validation for GAM, NAs only for species not used to calibrate models - family.block.RMSE.pgls: (numeric) RMSE for family block validation for PGLS, NAs only for species not used to calibrate models - family.block.NRMSE.pgls: (numeric) NRMSE for family block validation for PGLS, NAs only for species not used to calibrate models - family.LOO.RMSE.pgls: (numeric) RMSE for leave one out validation for PGLS, NAs only for species not used to calibrate models - family.LOO.NRMSE.pgls: (numeric) NRMSE for leave one out validation for PGLS, NAs only for species not used to calibrate models #### File: squamates\_full\_data.csv **Description:**  ##### Variables * scientificName: (character) species binomial * generation_length_y: (numeric) average generation length in year * source_GL: (character) source of generation length - generation_length_y.pgls: (numeric) average generation length in years predicted by PGLS - generation_length_y.gam: (numeric) average generation length in years predicted by GAM - Body_mass_g: (numeric) species body mass in grams, NAs represent missing data * bio01: (numeric) annual temperature in °C * bio04: (numeric) temperature seasonality °C/100 * bio12: (numeric) annual precipitation in kg m-2 year-1 - bio15: (numeric) precipitation seasonality kg m-2 * Max_longevity_d: (numeric) species maximum longevity in days, NAs represent missing data * source_MaxLongevity: (character) source of maximum longevity, NAs represent missing data * Maturity_d: (numeric) species age at maturity in days, NAs represent missing data * source_maturity: (character) source of age at maturity, NAs represent missing data - familyName: (character) species family - family.LOO.NRMSE.gam: (numeric) NRMSE for leave one out validation for GAM - family.LOO.RMSE.gam: (numeric) RMSE for leave one out validation for GAM - family.dimension: (numeric) number of species per family in training set, NAs only for species not used to calibrate models - eigenV_c3: (numeric) phylogenetic eigenvector, NAs represent missing data - eigenV_c28: (numeric) phylogenetic eigenvector, NAs represent missing data - eigenV_c22: (numeric) phylogenetic eigenvector, NAs represent missing data - eigenV_c35: (numeric) phylogenetic eigenvector, NAs represent missing data - eigenV_c87: (numeric) phylogenetic eigenvector, NAs represent missing data - eigenV_c18: (numeric) phylogenetic eigenvector, NAs represent missing data * family.block.RMSE.gam: (numeric) RMSE for family block validation for GAM, NAs only for species not used to calibrate models * family.block.NRMSE.gam: (numeric) NRMSE for family block validation for GAM, NAs only for species not used to calibrate models * family.block.RMSE.pgls: (numeric) RMSE for family block validation for PGLS, NAs only for species not used to calibrate models * family.block.NRMSE.pgls: (numeric) NRMSE for family block validation for PGLS, NAs only for species not used to calibrate models * family.LOO.RMSE.pgls: (numeric) RMSE for leave one out validation for PGLS, NAs only for species not used to calibrate models * family.LOO.NRMSE.pgls: (numeric) NRMSE for leave one out validation for PGLS, NAs only for species not used to calibrate models - Insularity: (character) species insularity, NAs represent missing data - source_insularity: (character) source of insularity, NAs represent missing data - source_bodymass: (character) source of body mass, NAs represent missing data ### Version changes **25-mar-2025:** The file generation_length_herps.csv was updated to include the Red List ID for the species and the average NRMSE of GAM and PGLS associated to the prediction.