Lizard Evolution

Lizard Data Table

Lizard Graph

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?

Being I couldn't see the whole picture of the lizard I sorted them by colors; brown and green.

2. Did you revise your criteria later? Why?

I did revise my criteria. After measuring hind lengths, tails and toe pads. I categorized them by longest tail, longest leg, shortest legs and bigger toe pads.

3. An adaption 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 one adaptation in the Anolis lizards?

One example is the trunk ground anole. It has longer legs then the twig anole lizards. The trunk anole lizards habitat is on the thicker part of the tree and needs to run faster to catch it's prey. The Twig anole lives on the thinner branches higher in the tree. It's legs are smaller to match the smaller branches.  

4. Provide one evolutionary explanation for why lizards living in the same part of the habitat would have similar characteristics. 

It is believed that many, many years ago there was one type of lizard. As some of the lizards left its original habitat they evolved new traits such as smaller tails or bigger toe pads. When these lizards come back to their original habitat they will still have some similar characteristics because they all started out as the same such as long tails or short legs but they will also have different characteristics now.

5. What is an ecomorph? Provide one example from the virtual lab.

An ecomorph is a species that has the same structural habitat, may have the same behavior but are different physically. 

6. How is an ecomorph different from a species?

An ecomorph is like a sub species within a species. We take the species lizards but then split them into different ecomorphs. Each separate ecomorph has the same physical traits. This separates them from each other even though they are all lizards. 

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 trunk-crown anoles have larger toe pads then the other ecomorphs. This allows these lizards to hang onto slippery leaves rather then bark. Tree trunk lizards wouldn't need large toe pads because they live closer to the bottom of the tree's where there aren't a lot of leaves.