Thermal niche evolution across replicated Anolis lizard adaptive radiations.

ABSTRACT: Elucidating how ecological and evolutionary mechanisms interact to produce and maintain biodiversity is a fundamental problem in evolutionary ecology. Here, we focus on how physiological evolution affects performance and species coexistence along the thermal niche axis in replicated radiations of Anolis lizards best known for resource partitioning based on morphological divergence. We find repeated divergence in thermal physiology within these radiations, and that this divergence significantly affects performance within natural thermal environments. Morphologically similar species that co-occur invariably differ in their thermal physiology, providing evidence that physiological divergence facilitates species coexistence within anole communities. Despite repeated divergence, phylogen

SUBMITTER: Gunderson AR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5936720 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature