Project 15
Plasticity and adaptive radiation in Anolis lizards

Led by Tobias Uller & Nathalie Feiner

This project tests the hypothesis that developmental responses to mechanical stress drive adaptive diversification in Anolis lizard limb length. We are assessing the role of plasticity in divergence of limb length through comparison of (i) phenotypic plasticity in animals reared in different conditions and (ii) interspecies comparisons between phenotypically divergent species, through comparative gene expression analysis in long bone growth zones.

Publications

Developmental plasticity in reptiles: Insights from temperature‐dependent gene expression in wall lizard embryos.
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Feiner N, Rago A, While GM, Uller T. 2018. J Exp Zool 1-11, DOI: 10.1002/jez.2175.
 
Signatures of selection in embryonic transcriptomes of lizards adapting in parallel to cool climate.
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Feiner N, Rago A, While GM, Uller T. 2017. Evolution 72(1):67-81.

EES predictions this project tests

i. phenotypic accommodation can precede, rather than follow, genetic change, in adaptive evolution
ii. novel phenotypic variants will frequently be directional and functional
iii. novel, evolutionarily consequential, phenotypic variants will frequently be environmentally induced in multiple individuals
v. repeated evolution in isolated populations may be due to convergent selection and/or developmental bias
vii. rapid phenotypic evolution can be frequent and can result from the simultaneous induction and selection of functional variants
viii. taxonomic diversity will sometimes be better explained by features of developmental systems (evolvability, constraints) than features of environments