Meeting Abstract
Anolis lizards offer a great opportunity to study how evolutionary processes take place in mainland and island faunas. These two groups often show differences in behavior, morphology, and life history. Previous studies have shown that Caribbean anoles have proportionally bigger toe pads than mainland anoles, and that clinging ability is directly related to perch height and toe pad area. The present study focused on the functional relationship of clinging ability with toe pad area and perch height in seven mainland anole species from Ecuador. Contrary to what has been observed in Caribbean taxa, our results showed that toe pad area and perch height have no significant influence in clinging ability. These findings suggest that different traits affect clinging ability in mainland and island taxa. Our results also support the idea that mainland anole populations suffer different evolutionary pressures than Caribbean anoles. Further information on how toe pad microstructures work is necessary to understand clinging ability.
