DOI: 10.6078/d1wh9x
title: Data from: Phenotypic diversity facilitates niche partitioning in a sky island assemblage of spiny lizards

description: If closely-related species should be more similar and, therefore, more
 likely to compete for resources, why do we see so many examples of
 species-rich congeneric communities in nature? To avoid competition, many
 species possess suites of traits associated with differential resource
 use—or ecomorphologies—that promote niche differentiation with
 co-occurring species. Yet, the axes through which niche partitioning
 evolves and the traits involved are still poorly understood in most
 systems. Island systems, in which species interactions can form strong
 forces of selection due to limited resources, provide valuable insights
 into how ecomorphological diversity contributes to coexistence. Here, we
 examined axes of resource use and morphological traits that facilitate
 niche partitioning in a community of spiny lizards (genus Sceloporus) in a
 sky island system, the Chiricahua Mountains of southeastern Arizona. By
 quantifying structural, temporal, and thermal niche use for over 300
 co-occurring lizards from four species over three field seasons, we show
 that sympatric species diverge primarily in perch height and type but also
 in thermal and temporal resource use. Our results also demonstrate
 interspecific divergence in a suite of phenotypic traits known to
 covary with ecology in other lizard radiations, including body size, scale
 size, hindlimb length, foot length, and dorsal coloration. Studies of
 niche partitioning and ecomorphology, especially of closely-related
 species, deepen our understanding of how diverse communities assemble and
 how morphological diversity accumulates across the tree of life, and our
 findings highlight the importance of examining multiple axes of resource
 use to better understand these processes.
description: # Data from: Phenotypic diversity facilitates niche partitioning in a sky
 island assemblage of spiny lizards Dataset DOI:
 [10.6078/D1WH9X](10.6078/D1WH9X) ## Description of the data and file
 structure Morphology and ecological data for individual Sceloporus lizards
 in Westeen et al. BJLS 2023. Lizards were caught in the field and aspects
 of their resource use and morphological measures were taken ### Files and
 variables #### File: Westeen-2023-nicheData.csv **Description:**  #####
 Variables * Information for each lizard including: * location (name of
 site) * time: time of first sighting of lizard * substrate given as a
 categorical variable (e.g., rock, log) * perch height in meters * lizard
 temperature (C) measured with an infrared temperature gun pressed to the
 lizard's cloaca * substrate temperature (C) measured with an infrared
 temperature gun * sex as determined in the field by examination of
 post-anal scales (male, female, or juvenile when sex cannot be determined
 due to lizard age) * mass in grams as measured in the field with a digital
 scale * body size as given by snout-to-vent length (SVL) as measured in
 the field in millimeters * tail length in mm: broken = broken tail, not
 measured; regen = tail regenerated, not measured * time of capture given
 by the GPS used to record capture location, given in Coordinated Universal
 Time (UTC)  * a value of NA indicates that measure was not taken in the
 field #### File: Westeen-2023-morphologyDataRaw\.csv
 **Description:** Morphological data from images of field-caught lizards.
 Multiple measurements were taken by different reviewers at different time
 points; some reviewers measured a different subset of traits. Final
 measurements presented in the manuscript were generated by averaging
 measures per individual lizard and checking for consistency. A value of NA
 indicates that measurement was not taken by the reviewer.  ##### Variables
 * specimen_no: individual lizard * reviewer: initials of person conducting
 measurements * linear measurements are listed in columns, measured in
 centimeters