General Biology Laboratory Exercise

Activity I: Identifying Ecomorphs and Exploring Anole Adaptive Radiation

1. Examine the photographs of 16 species of anole lizards and sort them into as many groups as
   

you want according to how they appear in the photographs. Explain

how you grouped the

lizards and your rationale for the various groupings

. If you picked a body feature, speculate

about the advantages or disadvantages of such a body feature in the

environment that

species

occupies.

1. Watch the first part of the film (up until 09:48, the end of the experiment on a small rocky
   

island). Now that you have more information about the anoles, revise

your groupings if

you

wish. Explain any changes you made.

1. Species of Caribbean anoles can be categorized into six groups according to their body
   

characteristics (morphology) and the ecological niches they occupy. The groups are referred

to as ecological morphotypes, or ecomorphs. The film discusses four ecomorphs. Did

your

groupings match the ecomorphs described in the film? Why or why not?

1. Using the diagram on the left and the information from the film,
   

choose one ecomorph and explain how the characteristics of that body type

are adaptations to that ecomorph's particular habitat.

1. Explain how the different ecomorphs are an example of adaptive
   

radiation.

1. Develop a hypothesis about why similar ecomorph classes can be found on many of the
   

different islands in the Caribbean.

10-5





use the link in the photo and please help