Research Training Program

Matthew C. Brandley
University of Oklahoma
Norman, OK

Kevin de Queiroz, Ph.D.
Supervising Scientist
Division of Amphibians and Reptiles

"The research knowledge and experience that I have gained at the NMNH will forever have profound influence on my career as a systematist and evolutionary biologist"

Anolis lizards are small to medium sized lizards that inhabit a variety of habitats and range from North to South America. Anoles of the Caribbean Islands are particularly interesting to biologists because they provide case studies of adaptive radiation. Anoles from different islands that live in similar habitats have similar body plans. From knowledge of the morphology of the lizrds and information about their phylogenetic history, scientists infer that Anolis species on different islands convergently evolved similar body plans, called "ecomorphs," as adaptations to similar environmental conditions. The importance of well-supported phylogenies in anole biology is very apparent, and many groups have not been thoroughly analyzed. Species of the Anolis cristatellus subseries inhabit the Puerto Rican Island Bank and the Eastern Bahamas. This group has been studied using primitive molecular techniques, but until now, no thorough morphological analysis has been conducted. This study attempts to elucidate the evolutionary relationships of these species through an analysis of morphological and chromosomal characters. A total of 16 external morphological and 7 skeletal characters were identified and scored for 15 taxa and an outgroup. The resulting tree separates the subseries into two lineages of two ecomorph classes each. One lineage consists of lizards that have evolved body plans that are adapted for living on the trunks (trunk ecomorph) and crowns (trunk-crown ecomorph) on trees, and the other includes lizards that have adapted to lower trunk (trunk-ground ecomorph) and grass (grass-bush) habitats. Separation of the latter group into separate trunk-ground and grass-bush lineages is also well supported.