Lamb April D, Lippi Catherine A, Watkins-Colwell Gregory J, Jones Andrew, Warren Dan L, Iglesias Teresa L, Brandley Matthew C, Dornburg Alex
Department of Bioinformatics and Genomics University of North Carolina Charlotte North Carolina USA.
North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences Raleigh North Carolina USA.
Ecol Evol. 2021 Dec 20;11(24):18719-18732. doi: 10.1002/ece3.8401. eCollection 2021 Dec.
is one of the most successful, widespread invasive reptile species and has become ubiquitous across tropical urban settings in the Western Hemisphere. Its ability to thrive in close proximity to humans has been linked to the rapid disappearance of native geckos. However, aspects of natural history and ecomorphology, often assumed to be linked with this effect on native populations, remain understudied or untested. Here, we combine data from ∂15N and ∂13C stable isotopes, stomach contents, and morphometric analyses of traits associated with feeding and locomotion to test alternate hypotheses of displacement between . and a native gecko, , on the island of Curaçao. We demonstrate substantial overlap of invertebrate prey resources between the species, with . stomachs containing larger arthropod prey as well as vertebrate prey. We additionally show that . possesses several morphological advantages, including larger sizes in feeding-associated traits and limb proportions that could offer a propulsive locomotor advantage on vertical surfaces. Together, these findings provide the first support for the hypotheses that invasive . and native . overlap in prey resources and that . possess ecomorphological advantages over . . This work provides critical context for follow-up studies of . and . natural history and direct behavioral experiments that may ultimately illuminate the mechanisms underlying displacement on this island and act as a potential model for other systems with invasions.
是最成功、分布最广泛的入侵爬行动物物种之一，在西半球的热带城市环境中随处可见。它能够在靠近人类的地方繁衍生息，这与本土壁虎的迅速消失有关。然而，通常被认为与这种对本土种群的影响有关的自然历史和生态形态学方面，仍未得到充分研究或验证。在这里，我们结合来自∂15N和∂13C稳定同位素、胃内容物以及与摄食和运动相关特征的形态计量分析的数据，来检验库拉索岛上 与本土壁虎 之间替代假说的位移情况。我们证明了这两个物种之间无脊椎动物猎物资源存在大量重叠， 的胃中含有更大的节肢动物猎物以及脊椎动物猎物。我们还表明， 具有几个形态学优势，包括与摄食相关特征的更大尺寸以及肢体比例，这可能在垂直表面上提供推进运动优势。总之，这些发现首次支持了以下假说：入侵的 和本土的 在猎物资源上存在重叠，并且 相对于 具有生态形态学优势。这项工作为后续对 和 的自然历史研究以及直接行为实验提供了关键背景，这些研究和实验最终可能阐明该岛上替代现象的潜在机制，并成为其他有 入侵系统的潜在模型。
