The Basis of Hurricane-Induced Performance in a Lizard, Princeton Vaughn, GS (C885856D)

Hurricanes are devastatingly powerful storms and are only becoming more common and intense as climate change progresses. In addition to billions of dollars in damage each year, these storms alter ecosystems and can have effects on evolutionary processes. Previous work found that hurricanes alter the body structure of anole lizards. These shifts in body structure are thought to play an important role in determining a lizard’s ability to cling during high winds. I designed an experiment to test this in the lab. By using a custom-built fan system, I looked at how long lizards were able to hold on during high speed winds. I then used x-ray imaging to extract detailed measurements of bone lengths. Combining these data, I can see which traits influence clinging ability and if those traits are the same ones that shifted in the wild populations. I found that one trait, toe length, both was important for clinging in the lab and shifted in the wild populations. This indicates that the trait shifts we see in the wild confer advantages to surviving hurricanes. Taken together, these results suggest that hurricanes can act as drivers of rapid evolutionary change, a process that will become increasingly important to understand as more populations will have to adapt to the increased frequency of these storms in the future.