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

项圈蜥蜴运动能力的生态学和进化意义在很大程度上，形态学和生理学特征的进化是通过研究整个动物的运动能力来检验的，大部分是在实验室里进行的。虽然大多数科学家都同意形态影响表现，然后表现影响个体的生存和繁殖能力（健康），但没有研究表明这三个要素——形态、表现和健康——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使用的频率是多少？在什么样的生态环境中使用？这项研究首次解决了这一缺陷，确定了表现如何影响领地蜥蜴物种的适应性，同时考虑了其他假设。项圈蜥蜴的最大冲刺速度、野外实现的冲刺速度、激素水平、社会行为和交配成功的数据将揭示每种因素对雄性和雌性适应性的贡献程度，并测试自然选择和性选择（提高交配成功的特征的自然选择）对表现的不同影响。智力上的优点将是更好地理解选择是如何作用于表现的，以及约束它的形态和生理特征。这项调查更广泛的影响是培养本科生的研究技巧。

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.