RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Does breeding season variation affect evolution of a sexual signaling trait in a tropical lizard clade?
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 864132
DO 10.1101/864132
A1 Levi N. Gray
A1 Anthony J. Barley
A1 David M. Hillis
A1 Carlos J. Pavón-Vázquez
A1 Steven Poe
A1 Brittney A. White
YR 2019
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2019/12/06/864132.abstract
AB Sexually selected traits can be expected to increase in importance when the period of sexual behavior is constrained, such as in seasonally restricted breeders. Anolis lizard male dewlaps are classic examples of multifaceted signaling traits, with demonstrated reproductive function reflected in courtship behavior. Fitch and Hillis found a correlation between dewlap size and seasonality in mainland Anolis using traditional statistical methods. Here, we present two tests of the Fitch-Hillis Hypothesis using new phylogenetic and morphological data sets for 44 species of Mexican Anolis. A significant relationship between dewlap size and seasonality is evident in phylogenetically uncorrected analyses but erodes once phylogeny is accounted for. This loss of statistical support for a relationship between a key aspect of dewlap morphology and seasonality also occurs within a species complex (A. sericeus group) that inhabits seasonal and aseasonal environments. Our results fail to support seasonality as a strong driver of evolution of Anolis dewlap size. We discuss the implications of our results and the difficulty of disentangling the strength of single mechanisms on trait evolution when multiple selection pressures are likely at play.