Climatic niche dynamics and its role in the insular endemism of Anolis lizards

We evaluated the tempo and mode of climatic niche evolution in the radiation of Caribbean Anolis lizards and the role of climate in shaping their exceptional insular endemism. Using phylogenetic comparative methods, climatic niche data and a calibrated phylogeny, we reconstructed climatic niche dynamics across time and space for Caribbean Anolis lizards. We found evidence of several instances of niche shifts through the Caribbean Anolis radiation. Caribbean anole species have diversified mainly along a precipitation rather than a temperature gradient. Only a few lineages have colonized both cold and hot conditions. Furthermore, most of the single-island endemic species are climatically restricted to its native islands and a small set of species might the potential to colonize other islands given its climatic niche requirements. Overall, we found evidence that climate niche conservation has played a role structuring current insular Anolis endemism. The observed climatic dissimilarity across the Greater Antilles likely limit successful population establishment of potential exotic insular species.