Skip to main content
Dryad

Data from: Exceptional convergence on the macroevolutionary landscape in island lizard radiations

Cite this dataset

Mahler, D. Luke; Ingram, Travis; Revell, Liam J.; Losos, Jonathan B. (2013). Data from: Exceptional convergence on the macroevolutionary landscape in island lizard radiations [Dataset]. Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.9g182

Abstract

G. G. Simpson, one of the chief architects of evolutionary biology’s modern synthesis, proposed that diversification occurs on a macroevolutionary adaptive landscape, but landscape models are seldom used to study adaptive divergence in large radiations. We show that for Caribbean Anolis lizards, diversification on similar Simpsonian landscapes leads to striking convergence of entire faunas on four islands. Parallel radiations unfolding at large temporal scales shed light on the process of adaptive diversification, indicating that the adaptive landscape may give rise to predictable evolutionary patterns in nature, that adaptive peaks may be stable over macroevolutionary time, and that available geographic area influences the ability of lineages to discover new adaptive peaks.

Usage notes

Location

Cuba
Haiti
Puerto Rico
Hispaniola
West Indies
Greater Antilles
Dominican Republic
Caribbean
Jamaica