Meeting Abstract

23.3  Monday, Jan. 5  A comparative analysis of claw and toe morphology and clinging performance in mainland and island Anolis CRANDELL, KE*; HERREL, A; LOSOS, JB; SASA, M; AUTUMN, KA; Lewis & Clark College; Harvard University; Harvard University; Universidad de Costa Rica, San Jose; Lewis & Clark College crandell@lclark.edu

Over the past decades, Anolis lizards have become a model system for the study of adaptive radiations. While most research has focused on the Anolis of the Greater Antilles, mainland anoles show an equally great amount of ecological and morphological differentiation. Previous authors have demonstrated that island and mainland Anolis differ significantly in their toe pad structure with mainland anoles having fewer subdigital lamellae. Since clinging performance is directly related to toe pad structure, we tested the hypothesis that mainland Anolis can generate less adhesive force per unit toe pad area. However, as anoles have two mechanisms used for adhesion (toe pads and claws), we hypothesize that mainland Anolis may compensate for their decreased toe pad performance by having sharper claws. Here we compare data for clinging ability, ecology, and morphology for 8 mainland species with similar data previously published for 11 species of Anolis from the Greater Antilles and one mainland species. Across all species, toe pad area, claw height, and claw length are positively correlated suggesting co-evolution of components of both claws and toe-pads. Island species, however, have blunter claw tips than mainland species suggesting that the decreased number of lamellae in mainland species may be compensated for by sharper claws. Interestingly, whereas toe pad area and claw size are positively correlated to perch height, claw tip angle and perch height appear to be negatively correlated. Perch diameter, on the other hand, is negatively correlated to claw curvature suggesting that increased claw curvature may be adaptive for lizards utilizing narrow perches