Exercise Anole Evolution

HHMI Lizard Evolution Lab
In this lab, you will work through Modules 1, 2, 3, and 4, answering the questions on the virtual lab as
well as those on this worksheet.
The “Anolis Lab Background” document on Moodle may be useful to use as reference information for the
first two modules.
Go to http://www.hhmi.org/biointeractive/lizard-evolution-virtual-lab Click “enter virtual lab”.

Or google: “HHMI lizard evolution virtual lab” and click “enter virtual lab.”
Read the Introduction and information for each Module prior to selecting “Module 1”.
Always make sure to watch the tutorial videos, they will save you a lot of time.
Module 1: Ecomorphs
Begin working on Module 1.

 When measuring hindlimb length, start at the hip and continue down to the tip of the longest toe.
 When measuring body length, start at the tip of the snout and stop at the hindlegs.
 When measuring tail length, start at the hindlegs and go to the tip of the tail.
 When measuring toepad count, click once on each toepad.
See “Tutorials” tab for more detail.
Watch each video during the tutorial and when the Module suggests to watch. If the sound isn’t working,
press the black subtitles (closed caption – CC) box at the bottom of the video.
1) An adaptation is a structure or function that is common in a population because it enhances the

ability to survive and reproduce in a particular environment. Provide an example of an adaptation
in Anolis lizards, and explain why it is an adaptation.
2) How is an ecomorph different from a species?
3) Explain how a particular body feature of one of the lizard ecomorphs from the virtual lab is an
adaptation to their particular niche.
Module 2: Phylogeny
Phylogenetics involves the use of genetic analysis (DNA, RNA) to determine which species are the most
closely related, assuming genetic similarity reflects evolutionary relatedness. Often times “phylogenetic
trees” are created to represent these relationships. They are quite similar to “family trees.”
The second page in Module 2 shows a particular gene’s nucleotide sequence for each anole species.
These DNA sequences are compared (by a computer algorithm) to determine which are the most similar.
There is no need to build the phylogenetic tree on the MABL website because a valid tree is created in this
module, however you may do so if you like.
4) In Module 1, you identified which species of lizards were most similar to one another based on
relative limb length and toe pad size. In this module, you determined which lizards are more
similar to one another based on what type of information?
5) Are the species of lizard that are more similar to one another according to body type also more
closely related based on the results obtained in this module?
Module 3: Experimental Data
Watch the short video about the Iron Cay anole experiment.
This section involves some statistical analysis of your measurements. The goal here is to familiarize
yourself with Excel, and some basic concepts such as the mean and the standard deviation. Concepts
such as the Standard Error and 95% confidence interval are a bit more complicated and abstract, so don’t
worry if they don’t make complete sense to you at this point.
On the “Looking at Sample Data” page, the idea is that in order to compare the Iron Cay anoles with those
from the Experimental Island, we need to combine our many measurements into one consensus value;
the mean.
The standard deviation is a useful tool for telling us how precise our measurements were. If there is a
large amount of variation between each of our measurements, then the mean is not going to be as
reliable.
“Calculating the Mean and Standard Deviation”

When working through Module 3, you will come to a point where you can “Download your data” and save
it to your desktop, or copy and paste the values into a spreadsheet. Here, you should download the data
and open it in Excel. Calculate the mean and standard deviation, standard error of the mean (SEM), and
95% Confidence Interval. Instructions can be found in the “How to calculate stats in Excel” pdf tutorial on
Moodle.
The benefit of the SEM is that it gives you a few values that are very likely to represent the actual mean.
The mean that you calculated is based on just 10 measurements, so it does not necessarily represent the
precise mean for the entire population (including the anoles that weren’t measured).
To build your graph, refer to the “Bar graph in Excel” pdf tutorial on Moodle.
6) Save your final spreadsheet including Sample Means, Sample SD’s, SEM’s, and 95% CI’s. Paste the
bar graph comparing the two islands here.
7) In Dr. Losos’s experiment, why was it important that the experimental islands lacked lizards?
8) If the population from one of the experimental islands was reintroduced on the original island, do
you predict that the lizards from the two populations would still mate and reproduce? Justify your
answer with scientific arguments.
9) The pattern of natural selection acting on the anoles’ leg lengths is:
a. Directional selection
b. Stabilizing selection
c. Disruptive selection
Module 4: Dewlap Colors
10) Paste your final spreadsheet including Sample Means, Sample SD’s, SEM’s, and 95% CI’s.
Also include the bar graph comparing the two species.

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HHMI Lizard Evolution Lab

Go to http://www.hhmi.org/biointeractive/lizard-evolution-virtual-lab Click “enter virtual lab”.

Begin working on Module 1.

1) An adaptation is a structure or function that is common in a population because it enhances the

2) How is an ecomorph different from a species?

Module 3: Experimental Data

“Calculating the Mean and Standard Deviation”

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