Jonathan B. Losos examined whether similar lizards on different islands in the Bahamas were closely related or whether they developed their traits separately, in response to the needs placed on them by their habitat. He described his research at a Sept. 18 talk at the Harvard Museum of Natural History. |
Losos’ lizards give evolutionary clues in island experimentsTiny islets in the Bahamas have proven useful laboratories to illustrate natural selection’s effects on island lizards, which saw their legs lengthen, then shorten as ground-dwelling predators drove them into the trees. The experiments capped years of research into a type of lizard called an anole on the Caribbean islands. The research, conducted by Jonathan Losos, the Monique and Philip Lehner Professor of the Study of Latin America, examined the relationships between lizards that shared similar habitats and characteristics but lived on different islands. Losos described his research Tuesday (Sept. 18) during the kickoff talk in this year’s lecture series sponsored by the Harvard Museum of Natural History (HMNH). |
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