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Related Concept Videos

Types of Selection01:46

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Natural selection influences the frequencies of particular alleles and phenotypes within populations in several different ways. Primarily, natural selection can be directional, stabilizing, or disruptive. Directional selection favors one extreme trait and shifts the population towards that phenotype while selecting against individuals displaying alternate traits. Stabilizing selection favors an intermediate trait with a narrow range of variation. Deviation from the optimal phenotype towards an...
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Although the genetic makeup of an organism plays a major role in determining the phenotype, there are also several environmental factors, such as temperature, oxygen availability, presence of mutagens, that can alter an organism’s phenotype.
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What is Natural Selection?01:32

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In addition to multiple alleles at the same locus influencing traits, numerous genes or alleles at different locations may interact and influence phenotypes in a phenomenon called epistasis. For example, rabbit fur can be black or brown depending on whether the animal is homozygous dominant or heterozygous at a TYRP1 locus. However, if the rabbit is also homozygous recessive at a locus on the tyrosinase gene (TYR), it will have an unshaded coat that appears white, regardless of its TYRP1...
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Mate choice—the decision about whom to mate with—is a type of natural selection, since animals must reproduce to pass down their genes. Mate choice is also called intersexual selection because the behavior occurs between the sexes.
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Environmental Gradients in Lizard Colouration.

Lekshmi B Sreelatha1,2,3, Pedro Tarroso1,2,3, Ossi Nokelainen4,5

  • 1CIBIO-InBIO Associate Laboratory, Research Centre in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources University of Porto Vairão Portugal.

Ecology and Evolution
|March 3, 2025
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Animal colouration adapts to environmental pressures. For Lusitanian wall lizards, humidity influences dorsal brightness, while colder climates correlate with larger, darker animals, supporting Gloger's and Bergmann's hypotheses.

Keywords:
brightnessdorsal colourationecogeographic ruleslizardsmelanisationthermal melanism

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Area of Science:

  • Ecology
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Herpetology

Background:

  • Environmental pressures significantly influence animal colouration, driving adaptation to local conditions.
  • The precise impact of climatic gradients on species' colour variation across their distribution is not fully understood.
  • Understanding these relationships is crucial for predicting species' responses to environmental change.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate spatial variation in the dorsal colouration of Lusitanian wall lizards (Podarcis lusitanicus) in response to environmental gradients.
  • To test hypotheses regarding the influence of climate on colouration, including Gloger's, thermal melanism, photoprotection, and Bergmann's hypotheses.
  • To elucidate direct and indirect pathways (mediated by body mass) linking environmental variables to lizard colouration.

Main Methods:

  • Multispectral photography was used to quantify dorsal colour brightness (lightness) in 463 Lusitanian wall lizards from 21 locations.
  • Piecewise structural equation modelling was employed to analyze relationships between environmental variables and lizard lightness, considering body mass.
  • Predictions from Gloger's, thermal melanism, photoprotection, and Bergmann's hypotheses were simultaneously tested.

Main Results:

  • Lizard lightness significantly correlated with humidity, supporting Gloger's hypothesis, but not with solar radiation intensity (photoprotection hypothesis).
  • No direct relationship was found between temperature and lightness (thermal melanism), but an indirect effect was detected via body size.
  • Lizards in colder regions exhibited larger body size and darker dorsal colouration, consistent with Bergmann's hypothesis.

Conclusions:

  • Climatic factors, particularly humidity and temperature (indirectly through body size), are key drivers of dorsal colour evolution in Lusitanian wall lizards.
  • The findings highlight the complex interplay of environmental pressures and evolutionary adaptations in shaping animal colouration.
  • Further experimental research is needed to confirm the causal mechanisms behind climate-driven colour variation in diverse environments.