Climate change may even threaten one of the world's most resilient lizards

Date:  May 9, 2018

Source:  Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

Sporting a bright red-and-yellow dewlap under its chin, the color-changing Bahamian anole lizard is a popular exotic pet. This wily anole has escaped captivity on enough occasions to successfully invade large areas across the Western Hemisphere. At first glance, this suggests that the anole is well-suited to adapt to a changing climate. But a new study led by a Smithsonian researcher, suggests that may not be the case.

Michael Logan, post-doctoral fellow at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama, studies the brown anole in its home range in the Bahamas. His most recent study shows that the anole's genetic makeup is surprisingly ill-suited to future climate scenarios. The anole is therefore unlikely to adapt fast enough to keep pace with current rates of environmental change.

The findings, published May 9 in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, have important implications for the future of cold-blooded species (such as other reptiles, amphibians and fish), especially since rapid evolution is considered a key way for many of these species to survive a global increase in temperatures.

"Brown anoles have huge population sizes and therefore should have loads of genetic variation in most traits, permitting rapid adaptation," Logan said. "Instead, we found that genetic variation in several traits that are critical under climate change is basically zero."

Continued