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Form-function relationships underlie rapid dietary changes in a lizard.

M Taverne1, P J Watson2, H Dutel2,3

  • 1UMR 7179, Département Adaptations du Vivant, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris, France.

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Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Small cranial shape and jaw muscle variations in lizards can lead to significant feeding performance differences. This allows rapid adaptation to new food sources, demonstrating how microevolutionary changes drive macroevolutionary ecological shifts.

Keywords:
adaptationbite forcedietfinite-element modelslizardmultibody dynamics

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Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Ecomorphology
  • Functional Morphology

Background:

  • Macroevolutionary shifts in diet and habitat are linked to adaptive morphological changes.
  • The role of small-scale, population-level morphological variation in driving ecological shifts remains unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the relationship between cranial form, feeding mechanics, and diet shifts in an introduced lizard population.
  • To understand how microevolutionary morphological variation can influence macroevolutionary ecological changes.

Main Methods:

  • Quantified skull shape and jaw muscle architecture differences using 3D geometric morphometrics and dissections.
  • Assessed masticatory system mechanical performance via computer-based biomechanical simulations.
  • Compared findings with existing macroevolutionary data on insular lizards.

Main Results:

  • Identified subtle differences in skull shape and jaw muscle architecture between source and introduced lizard populations.
  • Demonstrated that these minor morphological variations significantly enhance feeding performance.
  • Showed that improved performance enables access to novel trophic resources.

Conclusions:

  • Small-scale morphological variation can drive rapid ecological adaptation and diet shifts.
  • Cranial form and muscle architecture variations impact mechanical performance, facilitating access to new resources.
  • Provides insights into how natural selection can drive major ecological changes over short timescales.