Adaptive color polymorphism and unusually high local genetic diversity in the side-blotched lizard, Uta stansburiana.

ABSTRACT: Recently, studies of adaptive color variation have become popular as models for examining the genetics of natural selection. We examined color pattern polymorphism and genetic variation in a population of side-blotched lizards (Uta stansburiana) that is found in habitats with both dark (lava) and light colored (granite) substrates. We conducted a limited experiment for adult phenotypic plasticity in laboratory conditions. We recorded both substrate and lizard color patterns in the field to determine whether lizards tended to match their substrate. Finally we examined genetic variation in a gene (melanocortin 1 receptor) that has been shown to affect lizard color in other species and in a presumably neutral gene (mitochondrial cytochrome b). Populations were sampled in the immediate area of

SUBMITTER: Micheletti S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3485026 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature