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Title: The finer points of urban adaptation: intraspecific variation in lizard claw morphology
Abstract Human activity drastically transforms landscapes, generating novel habitats to which species must adaptively respond. Consequently, urbanization is increasingly recognized as a driver of phenotypic change. The structural environment of urban habitats presents a replicated natural experiment to examine trait–environment relationships and phenotypic variation related to locomotion. We use geometric morphometrics to examine claw morphology of five species of Anolis lizards in urban and forest habitats. We find that urban lizards undergo a shift in claw shape in the same direction but varying magnitude across species. Urban claws are overall taller, less curved, less pointed and shorter in length than those of forest lizards. These differences may enable more effective attachment or reduce interference with toepad function on smooth anthropogenic substrates. We also find an increase in shape disparity, a measurement of variation, in urban populations, suggesting relaxed selection or niche expansion rather than directional selection. This study expands our understanding of the relatively understudied trait of claw morphology and adds to a growing number of studies demonstrating phenotypic changes in urban lizards. The consistency in the direction of the shape changes we observed supports the intriguing possibility that urban environments may lead to predictable convergent adaptive change.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
1927194
PAR ID:
10457315
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ;
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Biological Journal of the Linnean Society
Volume:
131
Issue:
2
ISSN:
0024-4066
Page Range / eLocation ID:
304 to 318
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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