Smaller islands, bigger appetites: Evolutionary strategies of insular endemic skinks

Competitive dietary and morphological divergence among co-occurring species are fundamental aspects of ecological communities, particularly on islands. Cabo Verde (~570 km west of continental Africa) hosts several endemic reptiles descended from common ancestors, with sympatric species exhibiting wide morphological variation and competing for limited resources. To explore the mechanisms of resource partitioning between coexisting species, DNA metabarcoding was used to compare the diets of large and small skinks, Chioninia vaillantii and Chioninia delalandii in sympatric and allopatric contexts on Fogo Island and in a more competitive context on the small and resource-poor Cima Islet. The morphological variation of all populations was also examined to test the character displacement hypothesis and to compare the effect of different competitive scenarios. Results showed significant differences in diet and linear measurements between species and populations. The two sympatric populations o..., Study area
Fogo Island and the Rombo’s Islets are located in the Leeward group of Cabo Verde (Figure 1B). Fogo has 476 km2, reaching the highest altitude of the country at 2829 m. The landscape is characterised by the active volcano, last erupted in 2014, and large agricultural and pasture areas within its wide caldera. Its climate varies from dry – in the lower areas – to sub-humid – in higher altitude areas. In 2020, it was declared a biosphere reserve by UNESCO due to its unique ecosystem and biodiversity.
The uninhabited Rombo’s are composed of two main islets, Grande and Cima, surrounded by the smaller islets of Luiz Carneiro, Rei and Sapado (<0.25 km2). These are classified as Integral Nature Reserve and constitute Important Bird Areas. Cima, approximately 15 km west of Fogo, is a dry flat islet with about 1.5 km2 and a small hill of approximately 77 m. This islet is a key biodiversity hotspot for seabird species. However, its biodiversity is severely affected by Mus musculus L..., , # Data from: Smaller islands, bigger appetites: evolutionary strategies of insular endemic skinks

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.zpc866thn](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.zpc866thn)

## Description of the data and file structure

**Data description**

R scripts and corresponding data used to compare dietary composition (obtained using DNA metabarcoding methods) and body morphology of sympatric and allopatric populations of the endemic Cabo Verdean large and small skinks, *Chioninia vaillantii* and *Chioninia delalandii*. Results showed significant differences in diet and linear measurements between species and populations.

### Files and variables

**File list (files found within Data_CdCv.zip)**

CdCv_morpho_data.csv

Morpho_CdCv_1.0.Rmd

Diet_database_Cd-Cv.xlsx

Diet_CdCv_1.0.qmd

**File descriptions**

*Morpho_CdCv_1.0.Rmd* – This file is an R markdown containing the code to reproduce the morphological analyses performed in the paper cited above, including annotations describing the...