Meeting Abstract
Animals are required to execute various ecological tasks during their lifetimes. These tasks often require different whole-organism performance abilities, and thus morphology has been shaped by selection to enable not just one kind of performance trait, but several. However, specialization for one type of performance may come at the detriment of other, necessary functions (e.g., stamina versus speed), resulting in functional trade-offs among performance traits. Furthermore, males and females may experience different performance demands, resulting in sexual conflict over performance expression that can either constrain performance evolution or drive sexual dimorphism in both size and shape. We tested for trade-offs among a suite of whole-organism performance traits (biting, clinging, climbing, jumping, sprinting, exertion and endurance) in the green anole lizard Anolis carolinensis by measuring relationships both among performance traits, and between morphology and performance while preserving the multivariate context in which these traits exist. We also tested for sex-specific differences in the morphology-> performance gradient. By controlling for sources of variation that can mask individual trade-offs, we both expose the morphological underpinnings of the multivariate performance phenotype and demonstrate the existence of sex-specific functional trade-offs in this species.
