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CONVERGENT EVOLUTION OF PHENOTYPIC INTEGRATION AND ITS ALIGNMENT WITH MORPHOLOGICAL DIVERSIFICATION IN CARIBBEAN ANOLIS ECOMORPHS
Author(s) -
Kolbe Jason J.,
Revell Liam J.,
Szekely Brian,
Brodie III Edmund D.,
Losos Jonathan B.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
evolution
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.84
H-Index - 199
eISSN - 1558-5646
pISSN - 0014-3820
DOI - 10.1111/j.1558-5646.2011.01416.x
Subject(s) - convergent evolution , anolis , biology , adaptive radiation , evolutionary biology , phylogenetic tree , natural selection , divergence (linguistics) , phenotypic plasticity , phylogenetics , ecology , selection (genetic algorithm) , lizard , genetics , gene , linguistics , philosophy , artificial intelligence , computer science
The adaptive landscape and the G ‐matrix are keys concepts for understanding how quantitative characters evolve during adaptive radiation. In particular, whether the adaptive landscape can drive convergence of phenotypic integration (i.e., the pattern of phenotypic variation and covariation summarized in the P ‐matrix) is not well studied. We estimated and compared P for 19 morphological traits in eight species of Caribbean Anolis lizards, finding that similarity in P among species was not correlated with phylogenetic distance. However, greater similarity in P among ecologically similar Anolis species (i.e., the trunk‐ground ecomorph) suggests the role of convergent natural selection. Despite this convergence and relatively deep phylogenetic divergence, a large portion of eigenstructure of P is retained among our eight focal species. We also analyzed P as an approximation of G to test for correspondence with the pattern of phenotypic divergence in 21 Caribbean Anolis species. These patterns of covariation were coincident, suggesting that either genetic constraint has influenced the pattern of among‐species divergence or, alternatively, that the adaptive landscape has influenced both G and the pattern of phenotypic divergence among species. We provide evidence for convergent evolution of phenotypic integration for one class of Anolis ecomorph, revealing yet another important dimension of evolutionary convergence in this group.