DOI: 10.5061/dryad.8pk0p2ntg
title: Adaptive radiation without independent stages of trait evolution in a group of Caribbean anoles

description: Adaptive radiation involves diversification along multiple trait axes,
 producing phenotypically diverse, species-rich lineages. Theory generally
 predicts that multi-trait evolution occurs via a ‘stages’ model, with some
 traits saturating early in a lineage’s history, and others diversifying
 later. Despite its multidimensional nature, however, we know surprisingly
 little about how different suites of traits evolve during adaptive
 radiation. Here, we investigated the rate, pattern, and timing of
 morphological and physiological evolution in the anole lizard adaptive
 radiation from the Caribbean island of Hispaniola. Rates and patterns of
 morphological and physiological diversity are largely unaligned, belying
 independent selective pressures associated with structural and thermal
 niches. Cold tolerance evolution reflects parapatric divergence across
 elevation, rather than niche partitioning within communities. Heat
 tolerance evolution and the preferred temperature evolve more slowly than
 cold tolerance, reflecting behavioral buffering, particularly in
 edge-habitat species (a pattern associated with the Bogert effect). In
 contrast to the nearby island of Puerto Rico, closely related anoles on
 Hispaniola do not sympatrically partition thermal niche space. Instead,
 allopatric and parapatric separation across biogeographic and
 environmental boundaries serves to keep morphologically similar close
 relatives apart. The phenotypic diversity of this island’s adaptive
 radiation accumulated largely as a by-product of time and historical
 biogeography, with surprisingly few exceptional pulses of trait evolution.
 A better understanding of the processes that guide multidimensional trait
 evolution (and nuance therein) will prove key in determining whether the
 stages model should be considered a common theme of adaptive radiation.
description: # # **Adaptive radiation without independent stages of trait evolution in
 a group of Caribbean anoles** \[Access this dataset on Dryad](
 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.8pk0p2ntg](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.8pk0p2ntg)) ## Description of the data and file structure ### Table of Anolis species** **and trait data in this study including: physiological measurements include: CTmax, CTmin, and Tpref (heat and cold tolerance and thermal preference respectively) are in (⁰C) ± standard error and with sample size in parentheses (N). categorical variables of ecomorph category (trunk, truck crown, trunk ground, twig, grass bush, crown giant and anoles not belonging to an ecomorph category was deemed to be a ‘unique’ species) and canopy-use category (open vs closed) are used to describe each species. Note the 'unique' species are designated as such because they have no ecomorphological correlates on other Greater Antillean islands.  Morphological measurements include: snout vent length (SVL; mm) and hind-limb length (mm) ± standard error and with sample size in parentheses (N). Mean annual temperature (⁰C) and elevational range sampled (m). Data was derived from the following sources: * Mahler et al 2010 ([https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1558-5646.2010.01026.x](https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1558-5646.2010.01026.x)); 2013 ([https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1232392](https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1232392)), Munoz et al. 2014 ([https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2013.2433](https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2013.2433)), and Bodensteiner unpublished* The data used in this manuscript can be found in the supplementary materials in table S1.