Neuronal evolution across the Puerto Rican anole radiation


SOCIETY FOR INTEGRATIVE AND COMPARATIVE BIOLOGY
2021 VIRTUAL ANNUAL MEETING (VAM)
January 3 – Febuary 28, 2021

Meeting Abstract


96-4  Sat Jan 2  Neuronal evolution across the Puerto Rican anole radiation Storks, L*; Leal, M; University of Missouri, Columbia, MO; University of Missouri, Columbia, MO storksle@gmail.com https://twitter.com/ScalyLevi

Vertebrate brains are extremely diverse in size, shape, and structure. Two of the primary factors contributing to such diversity are species ecology and evolutionary history. Historically, variation in neuroanatomy across vertebrates has been primarily evaluated at the level of absolute or relative size of the brain or its major regions. However, recent evidence has revealed that the size of a brain or brain region is not a reliable proxy of its underlying neuronal parameters, such as the number and size of neurons, which underly the function of the nervous system. West Indian Anolis lizards are an ideal system for untangling the effects of species ecology and evolutionary history on brain evolution. Within each of the major islands of the Great Antilles, Anolis have evolved into several ecomorph types, each specialized for a distinct structural habitat niche. Selection to exploit these habitat niches has resulted in convergence within species of the same ecomorph in aspects such as morphology, communication, and territoriality. Previous research has demonstrated that within the Puerto Rican radiation six species of anoles (Anolis cristatellus, A. gundlachi, A. evermanni, A. krugi, A. pulchellus, A. stratulus), belonging to three different ecomorphs, do not diverge in the volume of specific brain regions based on ecomorph or habitat complexity. We revisited this finding at a finer scale by characterizing the number and density of neurons and other cells in the telencephalon, cerebellum, and remaining brain areas to evaluate the potential effect of species ecology on brain evolution among these six species of Puerto Rican Anolis.

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