ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINANTS OF SIZE IN SOLITARY POPULATIONS OF WEST-INDIAN ANOLIS LIZARDS
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1977
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Abstract
The relationship between jaw size in Anolis lizards and properties of the local insect fauna was examined in solitary populations on islands in the Grenadines and within the island of Dominica. Average lizard size in adult males is strongly correlated with local insect abundance. Adult females show a weaker correlation. There was no discernible relation between average lizard size and average insect size in the environment. The spatial scale of geographical variation in lizard size was quantified with the variance spectrum and the variance transfer function. Large gradients in average lizard size occur over less than 100 m, and the spatial pattern of lizard size strongly tracks patches of insect abundance occupying 60 m in length. The data are relevant to explaining discrepancies in the parallel evolution of a characteristic body size in solitary populations of Anolis. The data show that some, and imply strongly that all but 1, of the discrepancies in parallel evolution are explained by the presence of an unusually high local productivity.