2016-12-23T18:52:10

We tested for the occurrence of Bergmann's rule, the pattern of increasing body size with latitude, and Rapoport's rule, the positive relationship between geographical range size and latitude, in 34 lineages of Liolaemus lizards that occupy arid regions of the Andean foothills. We tested the climatic‐variability hypothesis (CVH) by examining the relationship between thermal tolerance breadth and distribution. Each of these analyses was performed varying the level of phylogenetic inclusiveness. Bergmann's rule and the CVH were supported, but Rapoport's rule was not. More variance in the data for Bergmann's rule and the CVH was explained using species belonging to the L. boulengeri series rather than all species, and inclusion of multiple outgroups tended to obscure these macroecological patterns. Evidence for Bergmann's rule and the predicted patterns from the CVH remained after application of phylogenetic comparative methods, indicating a greater role of ecological processes rather than phylogeny in shaping the current species distributions of these lizards.

Phenotypic differences among species are known to have functional consequences that in turn allow species to use different habitats. However, the role of behaviour in this ecomorphological paradigm is not well defined. We investigated the relationship between morphology, ecology and escape behaviour among 25 species of the lizard clade Liolaemus in a phylogenetic framework. We demonstrate that the relationship between morphology and characteristics of habitat structure shows little or no association, consistent with a previous study on this group. However, a significant relationship was found between morphology and escape behaviour with the distance a lizard moved from a potential predator correlated with body width, axilla‐groin length, and pelvis width. A significant relationship between escape behaviour and habitat structure occupation was found; lizards that occupied tree trunks and open ground ran longer distances from predators and were found greater distances from shelter. Behavioural strategies used by these lizards in open habitats appear to have made unnecessary the evolution of limb morphology that has occurred in other lizards from other clades that are found in open settings. Understanding differences in patterns of ecomorphological relationships among clades is an important component for studying adaptive diversification.