TY - JOUR
T1 - Predator-driven natural selection on risk-taking behavior in anole lizards
AU - Lapiedra, Oriol
AU - Schoener, Thomas W.
AU - Leal, Manuel
AU - Losos, Jonathan B.
AU - Kolbe, Jason J.
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank D. Fernández-Bellon and Q. Quach for field assistance; personnel from Friends of the Environment at Marsh Harbour; M. Melé, D. Spiller, and members of the Losos lab at Harvard University who provided valuable comments to improve the manuscript; personnel from the Museum of Comparative Zoology who helped to accession specimens; and the Bahamas Ministry of Agriculture and the Bahamas Environment, Science and Technology (BEST) Commission of the Ministry of the Environment for permission to conduct this research. Funding: Supported by the AGAUR in the form of Beatriu de Pinós postdoctoral fellowship 2014 BP-A 00116 (O.L.). Fieldwork was also funded with a Putnam Expedition Grant from the Museum of Comparative Zoology and a National Geographic Explorer Grant (O.L.) and funds from the University of Rhode Island.
Publisher Copyright:
© The Authors.
PY - 2018/6/1
Y1 - 2018/6/1
N2 - Biologists have long debated the role of behavior in evolution, yet understanding of its role as a driver of adaptation is hampered by the scarcity of experimental studies of natural selection on behavior in nature. After showing that individual Anolis sagrei lizards vary consistently in risk-taking behaviors, we experimentally established populations on eight small islands either with or without Leiocephalus carinatus, a major ground predator. We found that selection predictably favors different risk-taking behaviors under different treatments: Exploratory behavior is favored in the absence of predators, whereas avoidance of the ground is favored in their presence. On predator islands, selection on behavior is stronger than selection on morphology, whereas the opposite holds on islands without predators. Our field experiment demonstrates that selection can shape behavioral traits, paving the way toward adaptation to varying environmental contexts.
AB - Biologists have long debated the role of behavior in evolution, yet understanding of its role as a driver of adaptation is hampered by the scarcity of experimental studies of natural selection on behavior in nature. After showing that individual Anolis sagrei lizards vary consistently in risk-taking behaviors, we experimentally established populations on eight small islands either with or without Leiocephalus carinatus, a major ground predator. We found that selection predictably favors different risk-taking behaviors under different treatments: Exploratory behavior is favored in the absence of predators, whereas avoidance of the ground is favored in their presence. On predator islands, selection on behavior is stronger than selection on morphology, whereas the opposite holds on islands without predators. Our field experiment demonstrates that selection can shape behavioral traits, paving the way toward adaptation to varying environmental contexts.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85048198808&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1126/science.aap9289
DO - 10.1126/science.aap9289
M3 - Article
C2 - 29853685
AN - SCOPUS:85048198808
SN - 0036-8075
VL - 360
SP - 1017
EP - 1020
JO - Science
JF - Science
IS - 6392
ER -