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Sexual dimorphism in dynamic body color in the green anole lizard. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2023. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-023-03308-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/13/2023]
Abstract
Abstract
Animals capable of rapid (i.e., physiological) body color change may use color to respond quickly to changing social or physical environments. Because males and females often differ in their environments, the sexes may use changes in body color differently, reflecting sexual dimorphism in ecological, behavioral, or morphological traits. Green anole lizards, Anolis carolinensis, frequently switch their dorsal body color between bright green and dark brown, a change that requires only seconds, but little is known regarding sexual dimorphism in their color change. We tested three hypotheses for the function of body color (thermoregulation, camouflage via background-matching, and social communication) to determine the ecological role(s) of physiological color change in anoles. First, we examined instantaneous body color to determine relationships between body color and body temperature, substrate color and type, and whether these varied between the sexes. Next, we examined the association between color change and behavioral displays. Altogether, we found that males were more likely to be green than females, and larger lizards were more often green than smaller ones, but there was no evidence that anole body color was associated with body temperature or background color during the summer breeding season. Instead, our results show that although the sexes change their color at approximately the same rates, males changed color more frequently during social displays, while females remained green when displaying. In sum, social communication appears to be the primary function of anole color change, although the functions of body color may differ in the nonbreeding season.
Significance statement
Many animals can change their body color in response to their environments, and in many species, males and females experience different environments. In this study, we examined whether the sexes of green anole lizards use the ability to rapidly change their body color between green and brown for different functions. We found that, when a lizard was first sighted, its body color did not appear to match its background color in either sex (suggesting that color change does not contribute to avoidance of detection by potential predators), and body color was not associated with temperature for either sex (i.e., color was unlikely to influence body temperature). Yet, males changed color more often when performing social displays to other lizards, while females remained green during social displays. Thus, rapid color change plays an important role in social communication in both sexes, highlighting how males and females may use the same behavior to convey different messages.
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Luzete J, Giugliano LG, Klaczko J. Evaluating the drivers and engines of morphological diversification in the invasive gecko Hemidactylus mabouia (Moreau de Jonnès, 1818) (Squamata: Gekkonidae). Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2022. [DOI: 10.1093/biolinnean/blac102] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
Development determines the range of possible phenotypes that can be produced and exposed to selection and has a major role in the evolutionary trajectories of species. Nevertheless, development is itself subject to evolutionary forces. Here, we describe differences at the ontogenetic and population levels in head and limb proportions of the invasive gecko Hemidactylus mabouia, to assess the developmental mechanisms and extrinsic forces associated with morphological diversification during colonization of novel habitats. We have found that allometric trajectories of most skeletal traits remain constant throughout postnatal development. Linear morphometric analysis did not find multivariate differences between ontogenetic stages or sexes. When comparing populations, our results showed that the divergence of the corresponding external measures was explained by shifts in the intercept of static allometry curves, indicating that differences arose early in development. Populations aggregated into two morphological groups that did not correspond to the groups formed on the basis of genetic structure. Using two different approaches, we found support for an adaptive hypothesis when comparing observed patterns of morphological variation with that expected under neutral evolutionary models.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juliana Luzete
- Laboratory of Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy, Department of Physiological Sciences, Institute of Biological Sciences, University of Brasilia , Brasilia, DF, 70910-900 , Brazil
- Laboratory of Evolution and Integrative Biology, Department of Biology, Faculty of Philosophy, Science and Letters of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo , Ribeirão Preto, SP, 14040-900 , Brazil
| | - Lilian G Giugliano
- Laboratory of Genetics and Biodiversity, Department of Genetics and Morphology, Institute of Biological Sciences, University of Brasilia , Brasilia, DF, 70910-900 , Brazil
| | - Julia Klaczko
- Laboratory of Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy, Department of Physiological Sciences, Institute of Biological Sciences, University of Brasilia , Brasilia, DF, 70910-900 , Brazil
- Department of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum , London SW7 5BD , UK
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Baxter-Gilbert J, Riley JL, Frère CH, Whiting MJ. Shrinking into the big city: influence of genetic and environmental factors on urban dragon lizard morphology and performance capacity. Urban Ecosyst 2020. [DOI: 10.1007/s11252-020-01065-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
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4
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Lailvaux SP. It’s Not Easy Being Green: Behavior, Morphology, and Population Structure in Urban and Natural Populations of Green Anole (Anolis carolinensis) Lizards. Front Ecol Evol 2020. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2020.570810] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
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5
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Siliceo‐Cantero HH, Benítez‐Malvido J, Suazo‐Ortuño I. Insularity effects on the morphological space and sexual dimorphism of a tropical tree lizard in western Mexico. J Zool (1987) 2020. [DOI: 10.1111/jzo.12783] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- H. H. Siliceo‐Cantero
- Instituto de Investigaciones en Ecosistemas y Sustentabilidad Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México Morelia Michoacán Mexico
| | - J. Benítez‐Malvido
- Instituto de Investigaciones en Ecosistemas y Sustentabilidad Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México Morelia Michoacán Mexico
| | - I. Suazo‐Ortuño
- Instituto de Investigaciones Sobre los Recursos Naturales Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás Hidalgo Morelia Michoacán Mexico
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6
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Snell-Rood EC, Steck MK. Behaviour shapes environmental variation and selection on learning and plasticity: review of mechanisms and implications. Anim Behav 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2018.08.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
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7
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Gilman CA, Corl A, Sinervo B, Irschick DJ. Genital morphology associated with mating strategy in the polymorphic lizard, Uta stansburiana. J Morphol 2018; 280:184-192. [PMID: 30592530 DOI: 10.1002/jmor.20930] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2018] [Revised: 09/30/2018] [Accepted: 11/20/2018] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
Sexual selection can lead to rapid evolution of sexual traits and striking morphological diversity across taxa. In populations where competition for mates is intense, males sometimes evolve distinct behavioral strategies along with morphological differences that help them secure mating opportunities. Strong postcopulatory selection and differential resource allocation across male strategy type can result in strategy-specific differences in sexual traits, such as sperm morphology, ejaculate components, and testis size. Some polymorphic species also have strategy-specific genital morphology. Thus far, among vertebrates, this has only been observed in fish. Here, we present the first morphological description of the intromittant copulatory organ, the hemipenis, of the three mating types of the side-blotched lizard, Uta stansburiana, from a population that exhibits alternative mating strategies. We found that the isometrically scaling hemipenis was shortest in the nonterritorial (yellow) morph that sneaks copulations with other males' mates. Although the hemipenes were generally the same shape across morphs, the usurping territorial (orange) morph had a significantly wider apical horn than the nonterritorial sneaker morph. Sneaker males also had smaller relative body masses than both the mate-guarding (blue) morph and the usurper morph, and shorter tibia than the usurper morph. This study using a small sample of males suggests that strong sexual selection may drive genital trait differentiation across morphs within populations of terrestrial vertebrates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Casey A Gilman
- Department of Biology, Graduate Program in Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, Massachusetts
| | - Ammon Corl
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, California
| | - Barry Sinervo
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, California
| | - Duncan J Irschick
- Department of Biology, Graduate Program in Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, Massachusetts.,Department of Biology, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Amherst, Massachusetts
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Johnson MA, Kircher BK, Castro DJ. The evolution of androgen receptor expression and behavior in Anolis lizard forelimb muscles. J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol 2017; 204:71-79. [PMID: 29143128 DOI: 10.1007/s00359-017-1228-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2017] [Revised: 10/12/2017] [Accepted: 11/09/2017] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
The motor systems that produce behavioral movements are among the primary targets for the action of steroid hormones, including androgens. Androgens such as testosterone bind to androgen receptors (AR) to induce physiological changes in the size, strength, and energetic capacity of skeletal muscles, which can directly influence the performance of behaviors in which those muscles are used. Because tissues differentially express AR, resulting in tissue-specific sensitivity to androgens, AR expression may be a major target of selection for the evolution of behavior. Anolis lizards (i.e., anoles) provide a robust system for the study of androgen-regulated traits, including the behavioral traits that facilitate social display and locomotion. In this study, we examined six anole species that demonstrate significant variation in the behavioral use of the forelimbs to measure the proportion of myonuclei in the bicep muscles that express AR. Using phylogenetic comparative analyses, we found that species with a greater proportion of nuclei positive for AR expression in the biceps exhibited greater frequencies of locomotor movements and pushup displays. These results suggest that AR expression in skeletal muscles may influence the evolution of androgen-regulated behaviors in this group.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michele A Johnson
- Department of Biology, Trinity University, San Antonio, TX, 78212, USA.
| | - Bonnie K Kircher
- Department of Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA
| | - Diego J Castro
- Department of Biology, Trinity University, San Antonio, TX, 78212, USA.,Escuela Internacional Sampedrana, San Pedro Sula, Honduras
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Dufour CMS, Herrel A, Losos JB. Ecological character displacement between a native and an introduced species: the invasion of Anolis cristatellus in Dominica. Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2017. [DOI: 10.1093/biolinnean/blx116] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
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10
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Prey availability affects territory size, but not territorial display behavior, in green anole lizards. ACTA OECOLOGICA-INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY 2017. [DOI: 10.1016/j.actao.2017.08.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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11
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de Souza-Oliveira AF, Magalhães FDM, Garda AA. Reproduction, diet and sexual dimorphism of Gymnodactylus geckoides Spix, 1825 (Sauria: Squamata) from a Restinga area in northeastern Brazil. J NAT HIST 2017. [DOI: 10.1080/00222933.2017.1366572] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Alan Filipe de Souza-Oliveira
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia, Departamento de Ecologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Brazil
| | - Felipe de Medeiros Magalhães
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Biológicas (Zoologia), Universidade Federal da Paraíba–UFPB, Centro de Ciências Exatas e da Natureza, Cidade Universitária, João Pessoa, Brazil
| | - Adrian Antonio Garda
- Laboratório de Anfíbios e Répteis (LAR), Departamento de Botânica e Zoologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Brazil
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Affiliation(s)
- P. Muralidhar
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology Harvard University Cambridge MA USA
| | - M. A. Johnson
- Department of Biology Trinity University San Antonio TX USA
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13
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Wakasa H, Cádiz A, Echenique-Díaz LM, Iwasaki WM, Kamiyama N, Nishimura Y, Yokoyama H, Tamura K, Kawata M. Developmental stages for the divergence of relative limb length between a twig and a trunk-ground Anolis lizard species. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL ZOOLOGY PART B-MOLECULAR AND DEVELOPMENTAL EVOLUTION 2015; 324:410-23. [PMID: 26055630 DOI: 10.1002/jez.b.22627] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2014] [Accepted: 03/20/2015] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
The divergent evolution of niche-related traits can facilitate adaptive radiation, yet identification of the genetic or molecular mechanisms underlying such trait changes remains a major challenge in evolutionary biology. Conducting a detailed morphological comparison along growth trajectories is a powerful method for observing the formation of differences in niche-related traits. Here, we focused on hindlimb length of Anolis lizards, differences in which are related to adaptation for use of different microhabitats. We measured the length of hindlimb skeletons in different ecomorphs of anole lizards (A. sagrei, a trunk-ground ecomorph with long hindlimbs, and A. angusticeps, a twig ecomorph with short hindlimbs) from early embryonic stages to adulthood, to determine which hindlimb elements mainly differentiate the species and the timing of the formation of these differences. With respect to the digit, differences between the species mainly occurred during the embryonic stages of interdigit reduction, when the cartilage of the distal phalanges was simultaneously forming. In addition, we compared the relative length of developing autopods in early embryonic stages using whole-mount in situ hybridization before the formation of the cartilaginous bones, and the results showed that the relative growth rate of the Hoxa11-negative distal region in A. sagrei was greater than that in A. angusticeps. Our results show that there are several important developmental stages for hindlimb length differentiation between A. angusticeps and A. sagrei, depending on which hindlimb element is considered. In particular, the species differences were largely due to variations in digit length, which arose at early embryonic stages.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hajime Wakasa
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Graduate School of Life Sciences, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
| | - Antonio Cádiz
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Graduate School of Life Sciences, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan.,Faculty of Biology, Havana University, Havana, Cuba
| | | | - Watal M Iwasaki
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Graduate School of Life Sciences, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
| | - Namiko Kamiyama
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Graduate School of Life Sciences, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
| | - Yuki Nishimura
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Graduate School of Life Sciences, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
| | - Hitoshi Yokoyama
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Graduate School of Life Sciences, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
| | - Koji Tamura
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Graduate School of Life Sciences, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
| | - Masakado Kawata
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Graduate School of Life Sciences, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
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14
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Gerald GW, Thiesen KE. Locomotor hindrance of carrying an enlarged sexually selected structure on inclines for male fiddler crabs. J Zool (1987) 2014. [DOI: 10.1111/jzo.12161] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- G. W. Gerald
- Department of Biology; Nebraska Wesleyan University; Lincoln NE USA
| | - K. E. Thiesen
- Department of Biology; Nebraska Wesleyan University; Lincoln NE USA
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15
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Phenotypic Plasticity in the Relative Hind-Limb Growth of Lab-RearedAnolis sagrei: Replication of Experimental Results and a Test of Perch Diameter Preference. J HERPETOL 2014. [DOI: 10.1670/12-198] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
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