Growth Rate in Island and Mainland Anoline Lizards

This dichotomy in growth rate and age at sexual maturity supports the hypothesis that island anoles may be generally food limited and mainland anoles not so limited and suggests other differences in life history characteristics for these two groups of anoles.

Abstract

Growth data for Anolis lizards were fitted to the logistic growth equation and the calculated rate constant was used for interpopulation comparisons of growth rates. The major result was that most of the relatively small-sized anoles studied belong to one of two exclusive groups: Insular species with low growth rates and mainland species with high growth rates. As a result of their lower growth rates, the age at sexual maturity is greater for island (5-9 months) than for mainland species (2-4 months). This dichotomy in growth rate and age at sexual maturity supports the hypothesis that island anoles may be generally food limited and mainland anoles not so limited and suggests other differences in life history characteristics for these two groups of anoles.