Resource allocation tactics: repair versus reproduction in sphaerodactylus geckos (Sauria, Gekkonidae)
Description
Two sympatric Sphaerodactylus species (S. clenchi and S. sp.) from the Samana Peninsula of Hispaniola were chosen to study the adaptive tactics of resource allocation (repair versus reproducation) within a body. Tail regeneration was used to indicate repair effort. A theoretical model showing the relationships between repair and reproductive outputs was proposed for the analyses of the results Basic life history and general ecological data were gathered by an ecological survey in the study area, and by raising live animals in the laboratory. The comparisons of reproductive stages and the outputs of reproduction and repair among the females and males whose tails were induced to autotomize at different sites of the tail were used to study the resource utilization patterns. Tritium leucine was used as a tracer to indicate the relative amounts of outputs They were living in similar habitats and had a very high occurrence of tail loss (> 90%) in the field. Compared to S. sp., S. clenchi had a slightly larger body size, a higher growth rate, and also had a much wider geographical distribution. Both species had very similar life history traits in the laboratory Two types of resource allocation patterns were revealed by S. clenchi and S. sp. When more than half the tail is lost, S. clenchi shunts its main energetic effort to repair the lost tail but S. sp. still sets its energetic priority on continuing reproduction A C-S (Colonizers-Specialists) selection continuum comparable to the r-K selection continuum is proposed and used in the discussion of the evolution of resource allocation patterns of Sphaerodactylus in the West Indies. S. clenchi and S. sp. represent two different regimes of the C- and S-selections. An overview of evolutionary mechanisms summarizing the relationships among the ecological and physiological parameters is provided for further studies