The Role of Habitat Shift in the Evolution of Lizard Morphology: Evidence from Tropical Tropidurus

We compared morphology of two geographically close populations of the tropical lizard Tropidurus hispidus to test the hypothesis that habitat structure influences the evolution of morphology and ecology at the population level. T. hispidus isolated on a rock outcrop surrounded by tropical forest use...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS 1997-04, Vol.94 (8), p.3828-3832
Main Authors: Vitt, Laurie J., Caldwell, Janalee P., Zani, Peter A., Titus, Tom A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal morphology
Animal populations
Animals
Base Sequence
Biological Evolution
Biological Sciences
DNA, Mitochondrial - analysis
DNA, Mitochondrial - genetics
Ecological genetics
Ecological history
Ecology
Evolution
Habitats
Haplotypes
Lizards
Lizards - genetics
Molecular Sequence Data
Outcrops
Population ecology
Reptiles & amphibians
Savannas
Sequence Alignment
Sequence Analysis, DNA
Tropidurus hispidus
Wildlife habitats
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:We compared morphology of two geographically close populations of the tropical lizard Tropidurus hispidus to test the hypothesis that habitat structure influences the evolution of morphology and ecology at the population level. T. hispidus isolated on a rock outcrop surrounded by tropical forest use rock crevices for refuge and appear dorsoventrally compressed compared with those in open savanna. A principal components analysis revealed that the populations were differentially distributed along an axis representing primarily three components of shape: body width, body height, and hind-leg length. Morphological divergence was supported by a principal components analysis of size-free morphological variables. Mitochondrial DNA sequences of ATPase 6 indicate that these populations are closely related relative to other T. hispidus, the rock outcrop morphology and ecology are derived within T. hispidus, and morphological and ecological divergence has occurred more rapidly than genetic divergence. This suggests that natural selection can rapidly adjust morphology and ecology in response to a recent history of exposure to habitats differing in structure, a result heretofore implied from comparative studies among lizard species.
ISSN:0027-8424
1091-6490
DOI:10.1073/pnas.94.8.3828