DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Ecological and Evolutionary Significance of Locomotor Performance in Collared Lizards (Crotaphytus collaris)

领蜥蜴(Croaphytus Collaris)运动能力的生态和进化意义斯坦利·F·福克斯和曾傑瑞·F·胡萨克形态和生理特征的进化在很大程度上是通过研究整个动物的表现来检验的，主要是在实验室里。尽管大多数科学家都认为形态会影响表现，然后表现又会影响个体的生存和繁殖能力(健康)，但还没有研究表明形态、表现和健康这三个因素是如何联系在一起的。更重要的是，人们对如何或何时使用最大性能知之甚少。实验室测量的最大性能在自然界中多久使用一次，在什么生态环境中使用？这项研究首次解决了这一缺陷，确定了性能如何影响区域蜥蜴物种的适合度，同时考虑了替代假设。关于衣领蜥蜴的最大冲刺速度、野外实现的冲刺速度、荷尔蒙水平、社会行为和交配成功的数据将揭示它们在多大程度上对雄性和雌性的健康做出贡献，并测试自然选择和性选择(对提高交配成功的特征的自然选择)如何对表现产生差异。智力上的优势将是更好地理解选择是如何影响表现的，以及制约它的形态和生理特征。这项调查的更广泛的影响是对本科生进行研究技能培训。

Ecological and evolutionary significance of locomotor performance in collared lizards (Crotaphytus collaris)Stanley F. Fox and Jerry F. HusakThe evolution of morphological and physiological traits has, in large part, been examined by studying the performance of whole animals, mostly in the laboratory. Although most scientists agree that morphology affects performance, then performance affects an individual's ability to survive and reproduce (fitness), no study has shown how all three elements--morphology, performance, and fitness--are linked. More importantly, little is known about how or when maximal performance may be used. How often is laboratory-measured maximal performance used in nature, and in what ecological contexts? This study addresses this deficiency for the first time by determining how performance affects fitness in a territorial lizard species, while simultaneously considering alternative hypotheses. Data on maximal sprint speed, field-realized sprint speed, hormone levels, social behavior, and mating success in collared lizards will reveal to what degree each contributes to the fitness of males and females, and test how natural and sexual selection (natural selection on traits that improve mating success) may act differentially on performance. The intellectual merit will be a better understanding of how selection is acting on performance and the morphological and physiological traits that constrain it. The broader impact of this investigation is the training of undergraduates in research techniques.