CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Campus Agrário de Vairão, Vairão, Portugal.
J Evol Biol. 2010 Jun 1;23(6):1234-44. doi: 10.1111/j.1420-9101.2010.01984.x. Epub 2010 Apr 6.
Morphological variation in relation to habitat is known to occur in several lizard groups. Comparative studies have linked morphology and habitat use, showing that locomotion is the principal mediator of this evolutionary relationship. Here, we investigate intraspecific ecomorphological variation in Podarcis bocagei by examining three habitat types, representing a variety between saxicolous and ground-dwelling habits. Our results indicate variation in absolute and relative limb length, but patterns are only partially concordant to biomechanical predictions. Whereas the femur and hind foot are longer in ground-dwelling lizards, confirming previous observations, the tibia and hind limb are relatively shorter, contradicting expectations. Additionally, head shape varies substantially between habitats, in line with a hypothesis of mechanical restrictions related to microhabitat and refuge use. Finally, we detect male-specific variation between habitats in total body size and head size, providing evidence for interactions between natural and sexual selection. Although performance and behaviour studies are necessary to definitely confirm the functional and evolutionary significance of the observed patterns, our study indicates that ecomorphological adaptations can arise in a very short evolutionary time in this group of lizards.
形态变异与栖息地有关，这在几个蜥蜴群体中是已知的。比较研究将形态和栖息地利用联系起来，表明运动是这种进化关系的主要介导者。在这里，我们通过检查三种栖息地类型来研究 Podarcis bocagei 的种内生态形态变异，这些栖息地类型代表了石生和陆生习性之间的多种变化。我们的结果表明肢体长度的绝对和相对长度存在差异，但模式与生物力学预测仅部分一致。虽然在陆生蜥蜴中股骨和后脚较长，这证实了先前的观察结果，但胫骨和后肢相对较短，与预期相反。此外，头部形状在栖息地之间有很大的变化，与与微生境和避难所利用有关的机械限制假说一致。最后，我们在总身体大小和头部大小上检测到栖息地之间的雄性特异性变异，为自然选择和性选择之间的相互作用提供了证据。尽管需要进行性能和行为研究来明确确认所观察到的模式的功能和进化意义，但我们的研究表明，在这个蜥蜴群体中，生态形态适应可以在很短的进化时间内出现。
