In order to understand molecular and genetic mechanism of color pattern formation, not only adult phenotypes but also processes and mechanisms of color production and pattern formation during embryonic and postembryonic stages should be described. The pigment cell based color production and pattern formation during embryogenesis were reviewed for the recent studies on lizards and snakes, by focusing on different color production mechanisms in terms of epidermal and dermal pigment cell architectures, and then discuss the genetic determinants of pattern formation considering both biologically relevant theoretical models which consider pigment cell specification, migration, and architecture differentiation. Clarifying the contributions of pigment cells and genetic factors improves our general understanding of reptilian color pattern evolution.
43Abstract 44Hemidactylus spp. (House geckos) rank among the most successful invasive reptile species worldwide. 45Hemidactylus mabouia in particular has become ubiquitous across tropical urban settings in the Western 46Hemisphere. H. mabouia's ability to thrive in close proximity to humans has led to the rapid displacement 47 of native geckos in urban areas, however the mechanisms driving this displacement remain understudied. 48Here we combine data from nitrogen and carbon stable isotopes, stomach contents, and morphometric 49 analyses of traits associated with feeding and locomotion to test alternate hypotheses of displacement 50 between H. mabouia and a native gecko, Phyllodactylus martini, on the island of Curaçao. Consistent 51with expectations of direct food resource competition, we demonstrate substantial overlap of invertebrate 52 prey resources between the species. Additionally, we found strong evidence from both diet content and 53 stable isotope analyses that H. mabouia acts as a vertebrate predator, preying upon P. martini as well as 54 other native and non-native reptiles. Finally, we show that H. mabouia possesses several morphological 55 advantages, including larger sizes in feeding-associated traits and limb proportions that could offer a 56propulsive locomotor advantage on vertical surfaces. Together, these findings suggest the successful 57 establishment of H. mabouia likely involves a combination of both exploitative interspecific competition 58 and predation. Given the ubiquity of H. mabouia, illuminating the role of this species as both a competitor 59and a predator casts new concerns on the ecological and demographic impacts of this widespread urban 60invader. 61 62
Understanding the role of ecological processes in speciation has become one of the most active areas of research in marine population biology in recent decades. The traditional view was that allopatry was the primary driver of speciation in marine taxa, but the geography of the marine environment and the dispersal capabilities of many marine organisms render this view somewhat questionable. One of the earliest and most highly cited empirical examples of ecological speciation with gene flow in marine fishes is that of the slippery dick wrasse, Halichoeres bivittatus. Evidence for this cryptic or incipient speciation event was primarily in the form of a deep north-south divergence in a single mitochondrial locus, combined with a finding that these two haplotypes were associated with different habitat types in the Florida Keys and Bermuda, where they overlap. Here we examine habitat assortment in the Florida Keys using a broader sampling of populations and habitat types than were available for the original study, and find no evidence to support the claim that haplotype frequencies differ between habitat types, and little evidence to support any differences between populations. These results severely undermine claims of ecological speciation with gene flow in Halichoeres bivittatus. We argue that future claims of this type should be supported by multiple lines of evidence that illuminate potential mechanisms and allow researchers to rule out alternative explanations for spatial patterns of genetic differences.
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