Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 1 of 1
Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
The Evolution Of Copulation Frequency And The Mechanisms Of Reproduction In Male Anolis Lizards, Michele Johnson, Maria Lopez, Tara Whittle, Bonnie Kircher, A Dill, Divina Varghese, Juli Wade
The Evolution Of Copulation Frequency And The Mechanisms Of Reproduction In Male Anolis Lizards, Michele Johnson, Maria Lopez, Tara Whittle, Bonnie Kircher, A Dill, Divina Varghese, Juli Wade
Michele A Johnson
The evolution of many morphological structures is associated with the behavioral context of their use, particularly for structures involved in copulation. Yet, few studies have considered evolutionary relationships among the integrated suite of structures associated with male reproduction. In this study, we examined nine species of lizards in the genus Anolis to determine whether larger copulatory morphologies and higher potential for copulatory muscle performance evolved in association with higher copulation rates. In 10–12 adult males of each species, we measured the size of the hemipenes and related muscles, the seminiferous tubules in the testes, and the renal sex segments in …