Meeting Abstract

34.4  Sunday, Jan. 5 09:00  Behavioral divergence along an altitudinal gradient in a clade of tropical lizards BORONOW, K.E.*; MUNOZ, M.M.; SHIELDS, I.H.; LOSOS, J.B.; Harvard University, Cambridge, MA; Harvard University, Cambridge, MA; Harvard University, Cambridge, MA; Harvard University, Cambridge, MA kboronow@fas.harvard.edu

Entry into novel macrohabitats often requires physiological, morphological, or behavioral changes. However, the role of behavior in facilitating divergence into novel macrohabitats is virtually unknown. The Caribbean radiation of Anolis lizards is a well-studied example of adaptive radiation that occupies a diverse range of habitat types. Here we utilized the replicated evolution of a high-altitude specialist from a low-altitude generalist in a clade of Anolis lizards to test the hypothesis that a suite of behavioral traits accompanies divergence into a climatically distinct macrohabitat. The montane specialists A. armouri and A. shrevei each independently evolved from the lowland dwelling A. cybotes in two widely-separated mountain chains on the island of Hispaniola. We found evidence for convergent behavioral adaptation to the high-altitude macrohabitat: A. armouri and A. shrevei spend more time basking, utilize more open environments, and are more wary than A. cybotes. We also found divergence in display behavior in A. shrevei, but not A. armouri, perhaps due to differing trends in predation pressure with elevation in each mountain chain. The breadth of variation in behavior observed in this study of a single clade recapitulates that generated by the entire Caribbean Anolis radiation, suggesting that macrohabitat is an understudied axis of diversification in these lizards.