Doctoral Dissertation Research: Causes and Consequences of Morphological Variation within Populations

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9520673 Within populations, there is often wide variation among individuals. This variation may be adaptive, because it allows different individuals to use subsets of the habitat to which they are functionally best suited. This research addresses two questions regarding individual variation. First, do locomotor performance and body shape covary, and do individuals that differ in shape select parts of the habitat in which their performance is best? Second, what are the relative roles of genetics and environment in shaping individual morphology? The model system is a population of fence lizards that utilize multiple habitat types and show significant differences in morphology between individuals. The research questions are addressed through a series of descriptive and experimental studies. Locomotor performance on a variety of substrates will be measured, and covariance between performance and shape variables will be determined using multivariate statistics. Siblings will be raised in structurally different habitats, and in different food level and thermal regime combinations to separate genetic and environmental influences on body form. The research will reveal the adaptive significance of variation within a population, as well as the factors that produce that variation.