Adaptive Radiation
The ability of an organism to fill the all the available niches in a given area. Anoles in the Greater Antilles occupy ever niche available to them, from the broad Base of trees, the narrow twigs carpeting the ground and also the grass. These anoles as living in each respective area are adapted to life in their environment. Giving them the advantage they need to survive. For example the anoles found on the base of tree bear long hind limbs which are adapted for long distance jumping and high speed running, where as those living on twigs have shorter hind limbs enabling them to remain shore footed on the narrow surface of twigs (Losos 2001). How did the evolution of the anoles occur? What is the cause for this large morphological …show more content…
Now the aim is to determine the way in which this development in the differing ecomorphs came about. One theory is plasticity which is a change in the phenotypic features of an organism through environmental stimulants (Srour 2013). Baby A. sagrei which analysed in an experiment designed by Losos an colleagues to demonstrate the phenomenon (Losos 2001). The anoles (A. sagrei) were raised in different environmental conditions: on narrow 0.7-centimeter- wide wooden dowels and on broad eight-centimeter-wide boards (Losos 2001). It was found that the anoles that were raise on the narrow surface had shorter legs than those raised on the broad surface. Natural selection may have been another factor acting on the anoles. Very much like Darwin finches of Delphin Major a island and in string of island known as the Galápagos Islands, which showed a increase in finches with bigger deeper beaks in the drought period and a increase in finches with small during the flood (Freeman 2010). This can also be seen in these anoles, as an anole adapted to living on the broad surface of a tree trunk is not as surefooted as those adapted to leave life on a twig. This would put the anole adapted to life on a tree trunk at a competitive disadvantage as it is less likely to evade predators because it is prone to slipping on smaller
The ability of an organism to fill the all the available niches in a given area. Anoles in the Greater Antilles occupy ever niche available to them, from the broad Base of trees, the narrow twigs carpeting the ground and also the grass. These anoles as living in each respective area are adapted to life in their environment. Giving them the advantage they need to survive. For example the anoles found on the base of tree bear long hind limbs which are adapted for long distance jumping and high speed running, where as those living on twigs have shorter hind limbs enabling them to remain shore footed on the narrow surface of twigs (Losos 2001). How did the evolution of the anoles occur? What is the cause for this large morphological …show more content…
Now the aim is to determine the way in which this development in the differing ecomorphs came about. One theory is plasticity which is a change in the phenotypic features of an organism through environmental stimulants (Srour 2013). Baby A. sagrei which analysed in an experiment designed by Losos an colleagues to demonstrate the phenomenon (Losos 2001). The anoles (A. sagrei) were raised in different environmental conditions: on narrow 0.7-centimeter- wide wooden dowels and on broad eight-centimeter-wide boards (Losos 2001). It was found that the anoles that were raise on the narrow surface had shorter legs than those raised on the broad surface. Natural selection may have been another factor acting on the anoles. Very much like Darwin finches of Delphin Major a island and in string of island known as the Galápagos Islands, which showed a increase in finches with bigger deeper beaks in the drought period and a increase in finches with small during the flood (Freeman 2010). This can also be seen in these anoles, as an anole adapted to living on the broad surface of a tree trunk is not as surefooted as those adapted to leave life on a twig. This would put the anole adapted to life on a tree trunk at a competitive disadvantage as it is less likely to evade predators because it is prone to slipping on smaller