Bonus: look at these beautiful colors and patterns!

We also worked with the local Phyllodactylus geckos, aiming to compare them with the populations found in the mainland from an ecomorphological perspective. Overall a great experience with a great team. More on the evolution of these two insular lizard lineages soon!

We visited Independencia island in Peru some weeks ago. Besides beautiful landscapes, we were impressed by how the local population of Microlophus lizards illustrates the island syndrome. Males were large, colorful, highly territorial, bold, and most missed fingers/toes. Densities were high.

Both variables contribute to bone strength but cannot be simultaneously maximized. We found that island and mainland species tend to use opposite strategies, possibly due to life history differences.

My historical perspective on Rensch's rule now Ahead of Print @asn-amnat.bsky.social

www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...

But, consistent with our expectation of a strong sexual selection regime on islands, relative bite force dimorphism is higher in island species when compared to mainland ones, independently of size. This difference is only partly explained by relative head dimorphism being higher in island species.

Anoles follow Rensch's Rule, but how does it relate to performance dimorphism?

However, the nature of the relationship between size and performance is rarely directly measured. This implies that an observed Rensch's Rule pattern in body size is actually compatible with different patterns of performance dimorphism.