SANGER, T; GIBSON-BROWN, J; LOSOS, J; Washington Univ.: A developmental staging series for the lizard Anolis sagrei: a model system for the integration of development, evolution, and ecology.

Integrating detailed studies of ecology and evolution with modern techniques of developmental genetics and molecular biology has the potential to be one of the most informative approaches to understanding the origins of biological diversity and morphological disparity. Anolis lizards are well-studied and will serve as an ideal model system for integrating these disparate fields. Anoles have undergone a remarkable pattern of convergent evolution across the Greater Antilles in which similar sets of habitat specialists have evolved repeatedly on different islands (Losos et al. 1998). Within an island, species have diverged in both morphology and behavior to adapt to different ecological niches. One aspect of divergence is limb length: relatively long-limbed species tend to use broad surfaces such as tree trunks or the ground while short-limbed species tend to be found on narrower surfaces such as twigs. Functional studies indicate that these differences, along with differences in head and body dimensions, tail length, and number of toe lamellae are adaptive in that they provide different functional capabilities appropriate to the different habitats. Thus, Anolis has the potential to allow for one of the first comprehensive studies of how development changes across both ecological and evolutionary time scales. The goal of this study is to present a developmental staging series for A. sagrei that will serve as the standard by which future investigations of Anolis embryology and developmental genetics may be compared. We also discuss the issues of husbandry and care for this species that will need to be understood and standardized to make this species amenable to laboratory rearing and experimentation.