DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Community Structure in Day Geckos (Phelsuma): Testing for Convergence

进化生物学中的一个重要问题是进化在多大程度上是决定性的。 如果它是决定性的，进化可能是可重复的;或者，不同谱系的独特历史属性可能意味着进化方向是不可预测的。 对加勒比岛屿上阿诺利斯蜥蜴进化辐射的研究已经成为研究进化的模式系统。 在这个建议中，我们开始了一项研究的属壁虎在印度洋的岛屿。 我们的总体目标是比较的进化辐射的壁虎的anoles和调查的程度，这两个蜥蜴群体从非常不同的祖先股票遵循相似的进化途径。 结合实地研究、实验和实验室工作，我们将详细描述白天壁虎群落共同进化的方式。 如果白天壁虎表现出与在阿诺利斯发现的相似的模式，我们将得出结论，这两个群体已经趋同进化;或者，如果白天壁虎表现出自己独特的进化模式，我们将得出结论，这是这两个蜥蜴群体之间历史偶然差异的结果。

One of the great questions in evolutionary biology concerns the extent to which evolution is deterministic. If it is deterministic, evolution may be repeatable; alternatively, the unique historical attributes of different lineages may mean that evolutionary direction is unpredictable. Studies on the evolutionary radiation of Anolis lizards on Caribbean islands have become a model system for the study of evolution. In this proposal we initiate a study of day geckos of the genus Phelsuma on islands in the Indian Ocean. Our general goal is to compare the evolutionary radiation of day geckos to that of anoles and to investigate the extent to which these two lizard groups from very different ancestral stock have followed similar evolutionary pathways. Using a combination of field studies, experiments, and laboratory work, we will describe in detail the way that communities of day geckos have evolved together. If day geckos show similar patterns to those found in Anolis, we will conclude that these two groups have evolved convergently; alternatively, if day geckos show their own unique idiosyncratic evolutionary patterns, we will conclude that this is a result of historically contingent differences between these two lizard groups.