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Island colonisation leads to rapid behavioural and morphological divergence in Anolis lizards

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Abstract

Islands are hotspots of endemism and often function as engines of adaptive radiation. Nevertheless, we lack a deep understanding of the processes that generate phenotypic divergence when populations first colonise islands. Important questions include: (1) Do populations experience shifts in habitat use and behaviour with reduced competition and predation, and how fast do these changes occur? (2) Do shifts in niche occupancy result in morphological divergence from mainland populations? To investigate these questions, we transplanted 210 slender anole lizards (Anolis apletophallus) from mainland Panama to three islands in the Panama Canal that are likely species-poor compared to the mainland. We compared habitat use, flight initiation distance, and morphology among populations across two generations of divergence. We found that island lizards changed their behaviour immediately after colonisation, perching on lower and broader surfaces and allowing observers to approach more closely before fleeing. Although we found only weak evidence for an association between survival and morphological trait variation, trait means in the second generation often shifted in the direction expected if selection had acted on the founders. Our results indicate that colonising individuals can change their behaviour rapidly to exploit new structural niches, and that substantial shifts in morphology can occur after only a single generation. These changes, which are probably facilitated by ecological release, may represent the first steps in adaptive radiation of island lineages.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank S. Alvarez-Carretero, M. Stevens, J. Dinner, Z. Graham, P. Jervis, and M. Nicholson for help with the analysis and improving the manuscript. We would also like to thank A. Bilgray, P. Gomez, L. Camacho, C. Leon, R. Liones, R. Urriola and M. Cano for logistical support.

Funding

This project was supported by a NERC studentship (NE/L002485/1) and a Smithsonian Pre-Doctoral Fellowship awarded to DJN, US National Science Foundation awards to MLL (DEB-2024157), CLC (DEB-024179), and WOM (DEB-2024109), a Smithsonian Institution Biodiversity Genomics Postdoctoral Fellowship and a Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Earl S. Tupper Postdoctoral Fellowship awarded to MLL, and American Museum of Natural History Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Research Grants and Georgia Southern University Graduate Student Professional Development grants awarded to AKC and JDC. AKC was also supported by a Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Short-term Fellowship.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Queen Mary University of London, London, UK

    Daniel J. Nicholson & Robert J. Knell

  2. Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, London, UK

    Daniel J. Nicholson & Trenton W. J. Garner

  3. Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama City, Republic of Panama

    Daniel J. Nicholson, Timothy J. Thurman, W. Owen McMillan, Christian L. Cox & Michael L. Logan

  4. University of Texas Arlington, Arlington, USA

    Daniel J. Nicholson & Edita Folfas

  5. University of Hull, Hull, UK

    Robert J. Knell

  6. Arizona State University, Tempe, USA

    Lauren K. Neel

  7. University of Central Arkansas, Conway, USA

    Zachariah Degon

  8. The Land Institute, Salina, USA

    Madeline DuBois

  9. University of California, Los Angeles, USA

    Xochitl Ortiz-Ross

  10. Princeton University, Princeton, USA

    Albert K. Chung

  11. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA

    John David Curlis

  12. Florida International University, Miami, USA

    Christian L. Cox

  13. University of Nevada, Reno, USA

    Michael L. Logan

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  1. Daniel J. Nicholson
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Contributions

DJN, WOM, TJT, CLC and MLL designed research; DJN, EF, LKN, ZD, MD, XO, AKC, JDC, CLC and MLL performed research; DJN and RJK analyzed data; DJN, RJK, TWJG, LKN, CLC and MLL wrote the paper.

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Correspondence to Daniel J. Nicholson.

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This research was conducted under scientific collecting permits (SE/A-37-19, SE/A-18-18 and SE/A-39-17) from the Ministerio de Ambiente in Panama, permission from the Autoridad del Canal de Panamá, and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Animal Care and Use protocol # 2017-0308-2020.

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Nicholson, D.J., Knell, R.J., Folfas, E. et al. Island colonisation leads to rapid behavioural and morphological divergence in Anolis lizards. Evol Ecol 37, 779–795 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10682-023-10248-2

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