Lizard Evolution Activities PDF

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Name ____Oyinda Adeyemo_______

Date ___03/07/2021____

LAB EXERCISE 5: Lizard Evolution Virtual Lab

Answer the following questions as you finish each module of the virtual lab:

MODULE 1: Ecomorphs

1. At the beginning of the virtual lab, you were asked to sort eight lizards into categories. What criteria did you initially use to make your groups? I based my criteria on the colors of the lizards.

2. Did you revise your criteria later? Why? I revised my criteria later. I ended up choosing the size of the lizard’s legs. I chose this criteria because each lizard have evolved their legs/ limbs based on their habitat.

3. An adaptation is a structure or function that is common in a population because it enhances the ability to survive and reproduce in a particular environment. Provide one example and an explanation of an adaptation in the Anolis lizard. One adaptation is the toepads on the A. evermanni Puerto Rico. The toepad allows the lizard grip on the leafs of trees as it walks on it. 4. Provide one evolutionary explanation for why lizards living in the same part of the habitat (i.e., the grass) would have similar characteristics. Lizards in the same habitat have similar characteristics because they either share a common ancestor or need similar features to survive in the same habitat. 5. What is an ecomorph? Provide one example from the virtual lab.

An ecomorph is a specie that have similar habitat and body type. An example from the virtual lab is the short legs that both the Sheplani Hispaniola and occultus Puerto Rico possess

6. How is an ecomorph different from a species? An ectomorph classifies an organism as having similar body types and habitats, while species have other different characteristics such as body color, eye color.

7. Explain how a particular body feature of one of the lizard ecomorphs from the virtual lab is an adaptation to their particular niche. The Occultus Puerto Rico anole has short legs because it needs crawl and stick to the twigs in its habitat.

MODULE 2: Phylogeny

8. In Module 1, you identified which species of lizards were most similar to one another based on relative limb length and toe pad size. In this module, you determined which lizards are more similar to one another based on what type of information? Based on similar DNA sequences 9. Are the species of lizards that are most similar to one another according to body type also more closely related based on the results obtained in this module? Explain your answer. The species similar to one another based on body type are not more closely related based on the results obtained from the DNA sequence analysis. This is because the lizards with similar body types are far apart from each other on the phylogeny tree. 10. What is convergent evolution? Use evidence from the phylogenetic trees to explain how the Anolis lizards are an example of this concept. Convergent evolution is when species from different lineages share a common trait due to shared environment and not shared ancestry. The phylogenetic tree shows how these

lizards experience convergent evolution because they share a common trait for adaptation to the environment and not because of shared ancestry

MODULE 4: Dewlap colors

11. Anolis cristatellus and A. cooki are both trunk-ground anoles that live on Puerto Rico. A. cristatellus lives in a shady, forest environment, while A. cooki lives in an open, sunny environment. What is an adaptive explanation for why the dewlap of one species evolved to be brighter than and that of another species darker? The Anolis Cristatellus has a brighter dewlap while the A. cooki has a darker dewlap. The brightness of the dewlap was a result of a great amount of sunlight on the plants in the area. The darker the dwalap, the more camouflage advantage it has in a darker environment.

12. If a species of anoles with dark dewlaps colonized a heavily forested island, predict what would happen over time to the color of the dewlap. Using your knowledge of natural selection and genetics, explain your prediction. The environmental conditions on the heavy forested island favor the brighter dewlaps, anoles with brighter dewlaps would successfully attracts mates and reproduce offspring’s brighter dewlaps which would cause a disadvantage for the anoles with the darker dewlaps because they wouldn’t reproduce and pass on the traits to future generations.

13. What is reproductive isolation? If the dewlap colors act to isolate different populations of anoles, what type of reproductive isolation is this an example of? Reproductive isolation is a mechanism that prevents members of different species from producing offspring. The isolation would be a behavioral isolation....