Sexual dimorphism in bite performance drives morphological variation in chameleons.

ABSTRACT: Phenotypic performance in different environments is central to understanding the evolutionary and ecological processes that drive adaptive divergence and, ultimately, speciation. Because habitat structure can affect an animal's foraging behaviour, anti-predator defences, and communication behaviour, it can influence both natural and sexual selection pressures. These selective pressures, in turn, act upon morphological traits to maximize an animal's performance. For performance traits involved in both social and ecological activities, such as bite force, natural and sexual selection often interact in complex ways, providing an opportunity to understand the adaptive significance of morphological variation with respect to habitat. Dwarf chameleons within the Bradypodion melanocephalum-Bradypo

SUBMITTER: da Silva JM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3903609 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature