Meeting Abstract

39.1  Wednesday, Jan. 5  Effects of dietary restriction on dewlap size and bite force development in Anolis carolinensis LAILVAUX, Simon*; GILBERT, Rebecca; University of New Orleans; University of New Orleans slailvaux@gmail.com

Recent studies have reported positive links between male ornament and/or armament size and whole-organism performance capacities (independent of body size) in a variety of animal taxa. For example, dewlap size and bite force have been shown to be linked in this way in several sexually dimorphic Anolis lizard species. However, the processes underlying and controlling this relationship are currently unknown. In particular, we lack an understanding of the relative investments of acquired resources into dewlap size and bite force over the course of ontogeny. We conducted a simple food restriction experiment using hatchling male Anolis carolinensis lizards with the aim of exposing male priorities in phenotypic investment of acquired resources. We tested the hypothesis that the observed relationship between dewlap size and bite force would be decoupled in adult A. carolinensis males raised on a restricted food diet as opposed to control males raised with ad libitum food throughout development. We also consider the potential impact of early life history and growth trajectory on adult ecology in these lizards.