Meeting Abstract
The remarkable ability of geckos to adhere to surfaces has served as inspiration for hundreds of studies spanning the disciplines of biomechanics, chemistry, ecology, evolution, functional morphology, material science, and physics. Fibrillar adhesive systems have independently evolved in two other lineages of lizards (anoles and skinks), but comparatively little is known about the fibrillar characteristics of these convergent adhesive arrays. This is particularly surprising for Anolis lizards, because anoles have been the subject of intensive ecological and evolutionary study for several decades. The morphology and patterning of the adhesive setae of several species of geckos has been comprehensively examined, with patterns of variation in setal length, diameter, density, and other morphological characters being revealed along the proximodistal axis of the subdigital adhesive pads. In contrast, such potential variation in the configuration of setal fields in Anolis lizards remains largely unexplored. Indeed, the only data that are currently available relate to single gross setal dimensions of a few species. Here we describe preliminary setal morphometrics and patterning data for an Anolis lizard and compare this to the patterns reported for gekkotan setae. Our results not only add to the diversity of existing morphometric data for lizard fibrillar adhesive systems, but also stand to serve as additional sources of inspiration for biomimetic fibrillar synthetic adhesives.
