Nonlinear selection and the evolution of variances and covariances for continuous characters in an anole

L.J. Revell, D.L. Mahler, J.R. Sweeney, M. Sobotka, V.E. Fancher, J.B. Losos

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    15 Scopus citations

    Abstract

    The pattern of genetic variances and covariances among characters, summarized in the additive genetic variance-covariance matrix, G, determines how a population will respond to linear natural selection. However, G itself also evolves in response to selection. In particular, we expect that, over time, G will evolve correspondence with the pattern of multivariate nonlinear natural selection. In this study, we substitute the phenotypic variance-covariance matrix (P) for G to determine if the pattern of multivariate nonlinear selection in a natural population of Anolis cristatellus, an arboreal lizard from Puerto Rico, has influenced the evolution of genetic variances and covariances in this species. Although results varied among our estimates of P and fitness, and among our analytic techniques, we find significant evidence for congruence between nonlinear selection and P, suggesting that natural selection may have influenced the evolution of genetic constraint in this species. © 2009 European Society For Evolutionary Biology.
    Original languageEnglish (US)
    Pages (from-to)407-421
    Number of pages15
    JournalJournal of Evolutionary Biology
    Volume23
    Issue number2
    DOIs
    StatePublished - Feb 2010

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