Meeting Abstract

45-8   15:15 - 15:30  The evolution of thermal developmental plasticity across Anolis lizards – a comparative approach Muell, MR*; Oaks, JR; Warner, DA; Auburn University, Auburn University Museum of Natural History, Auburn, AL; Auburn University, Auburn University Museum of Natural History, Auburn, AL; Auburn University, Auburn University Museum of Natural History, Auburn, AL morganrmuell@gmail.com https://morganmuell.wixsite.com/home

All organisms exhibit developmental plasticity, which refers to the capacity of phenotypes to change across environments experienced by early life stages. Developmental plasticity is considered adaptive in heterogeneous environments, as it could generate phenotypes suited to specific environmental conditions. While many experimental studies have examined fitness consequences of plasticity in single species, few studies have examined how thermal developmental plasticity evolves among multiple species using phylogenetic comparative approaches. We examined patterns of thermal developmental plasticity among 8 species of Anolis lizards inhabiting South Florida. These species are broadly distributed across the Anolis phylogeny and represent multiple Anolis ecomorphs. Further, 7 of the 8 species are introduced from the Greater Antilles, meaning they may have historic adaptations to different environments. We collected adults of each study species in South Florida and bred them in a captive environment. We randomly divided eggs from each species among cool and warm incubation treatments. We collected response data on a wide variety of hatchling phenotypes including hatchling morphology, sprint speed, and growth rates. We constructed reaction norms for each trait to describe changes in phenotypes across temperature treatments, and then tested whether the shape of reaction norms for each trait was evolutionarily correlated with the level of native environmental heterogeneity. We predict that species showing greater levels of developmental plasticity will be associated with native environments characterized by high environmental heterogeneity. Our study contributes unique insights into the evolution of a complex trait across an enigmatic model system in evolutionary biology and generates hypotheses for further investigation of thermal developmental plasticity within Anolis lineages.