Evolution and dynamics of jumping in Anolis lizards

Photograph by E. Toro

Jumping is an important means of locomotion for many animal species, but remarkably little is known of the dynamics of jumping in any animal species.  Further, few studies have examined the evolution of jumping.  Do animals jump at "optimal" angles for jumping?  If not, are there important trade-offs in the evolution of jumping that "prevent" some species from jumping at their optimal angles?  We are currently investigating these issues by examining a clade of 12 species of Caribbean Anolis lizards that vary dramatically in limb morphology and jumping performance.  In addition, these 12 species also vary dramatically in size; thus another question is how different biomechanical jumping variables (e.g., take-off angle, force output) change with size.  Recent work (Toro et al. 2003a) showed that the scaling of these jumping variables does not match expectations of any single theoretical scaling model.  In addition, another study shows that the average jump angle for these 12 anole species more closely approximates 36 degrees, not 45 degrees, as predicted from previous models (Toro et al. 2004).  This latter work shows that anole species may jump at such "sub-optimal" angles to resolve a biomechanical trade-off between jump angle and flight duration.

Relevant literature:

Toro E, Herrel A, Vanhooydonck B, Irschick DJ. 2003.  A biomechanical analysis of intra- and interspecific scaling of jumping and morphology in Caribbean Anolis lizards.  Journal of Experimental Biology (Cover). 206:2641-2652

Toro E, Herrel A, Irschick DJ. 2004.  The evolution of jumping performance in Caribbean Anolis lizards: solutions to biomechanical trade-offs.  The American Naturalist.  163:844-856.

Irschick DJ, VanHooydonck B, Meyers J, Herrel A.  2005.  Intraspecific correlations among morphology, performance, and habitat use within a green anole lizard (Anolis carolinensis) population.  Biological Journal of the Linnean Society.  85:211-221.

Toro E, Herrel A, Irschick DJ.  2006.  Movement control strategies during jumping in a lizard (Anolis valencienni).  Journal of Biomechanics.  39:2014-2019.

Lailvaux S, Irschick DJ.  2007.  Effects of temperature and sex on jump biomechanics and performance in the lizard Anolis carolinensis.  Functional Ecology. 21:534-543.