The relationship between morphology, escape behaviour and microhabitat occupation in the lizard clade Liolaemus (Iguanidae: Tropidurinae: Liolaemini)

SCHULTE II J. A., J. B. LOSOS, F. B. CRUZ, H. NUÑEZ

JOURNAL OF EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY

WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC

Año: 2004 vol. 17 p. 408 - 420

1010-061X

Phenotypic differences among species are known to have functional consequencesthat in turn allow species to use different habitats. However, the roleof behaviour in this ecomorphological paradigm is not well defined. Weinvestigated the relationship between morphology, ecology and escapebehaviour among 25 species of the lizard clade Liolaemus in a phylogeneticframework. We demonstrate that the relationship between morphology andcharacteristics of habitat structure shows little or no association, consistentwith a previous study on this group. However, a significant relationship wasfound between morphology and escape behaviour with the distance a lizardmoved from a potential predator correlated with body width, axilla-groinlength, and pelvis width. A significant relationship between escape behaviourand habitat structure occupation was found; lizards that occupied tree trunksand open ground ran longer distances from predators and were found greaterdistances from shelter. Behavioural strategies used by these lizards in openhabitats appear to have made unnecessary the evolution of limb morphologythat has occurred in other lizards from other clades that are found in opensettings. Understanding differences in patterns of ecomorphological relationshipsamong clades is an important component for studying adaptivediversification.