Habitat use, interspecific competition, and phylogenetic history shape the evolution of claw and toepad morphology in Lesser Antillean anoles

Ecologically functional traits are the product of several, at times opposing, selective forces. Thus, ecomorphological patterns can be disrupted locally by biotic interactions such as competition and may not be consistent across lineages. Here, we studied the evolution of claws and toepads in relation to macrohabitat (vegetation), use of structural microhabitat (perch height), and congeneric competition for two distantly-related Lesser Antillean anole clades: the bimaculatus and roquet series. We collect univariate and geometric morphometric data from 254 individuals across 22 species to test the hypotheses that (1) functional morphology should covary with both vegetation and perch height and that (2) the presence of a competitor may disrupt such covariation. Our data show predictable associations between morphology and macrohabitat on single-species islands but not when a congeneric competitor is present. The outcomes of competition differ between series, however.  In the bimaculatus s...

生态功能性状是多种（有时甚至相互对立的）选择压力共同作用的产物。因此，生物相互作用（如竞争）可在局部层面扰乱生态形态格局，且该格局在不同演化支间可能并不一致。本研究针对两个亲缘关系较远的小安的列斯群岛安乐蜥（anole）演化支——双斑系列（bimaculatus series）与罗凯系列（roquet series）——探究了其爪与趾垫的演化与大生境（植被类型）、结构微生境利用（停栖高度）以及同属竞争之间的关联。我们采集了22个物种共254个个体的单变量与几何形态测量学（geometric morphometric）数据，以验证两个假说：其一，功能形态应与植被类型及停栖高度均存在共变关系；其二，竞争者的存在可能打破这种共变模式。研究数据显示，在单物种岛屿上，形态与大生境间存在可预测的关联，但当存在同属竞争者时，该关联不再显著。不过，不同演化组间的竞争结果存在差异。在双斑系列（bimaculatus s...）