Kinsey M Brock

• Doctor of Philosophy
• Assistant Professor & Curator of Herpetology at San Diego State University

Color polymorphism - two or more heritable color phenotypes maintained within a single breeding population - is an extreme type of intra-specific diversity widespread across the tree of life but rarely studied in a comparative framework. Color polymorphism is thought to be an engine for speciation, where morph loss or divergence between distinct co...

Color polymorphism defies evolutionary expectations as striking phenotypic variation is maintained within a single species. Color and other traits mediate social interactions, and stable polymorphism within a population is hypothesized to be related to correlational selection of other phenotypic traits among color morphs. Here, we report on a previ...

Variation in color morph behavior is an important factor in the maintenance of color polymorphism. Alternative anti-predator behaviors are often associated with morphological traits such as coloration, possibly because predator-mediated viability selection favors certain combinations of anti-predator behavior and color. The Aegean wall lizard, Poda...

Intraspecific colour morphs usually differ in more traits than just colour. These traits can manifest as differences in morph physiology, behaviour, and ecology. Ecological differences among colour morphs, such as the degree of parasitism, can influence the evolution, maintenance, and loss of morphs from populations. High ectoparasite load can dire...

Space is a limited resource in which many animals need to perform basic functions such as feeding and reproducing. Competition over access to space can induce a variety of behaviours that may result in differential access to crucial resources related to survival and fitness. The Aegean wall lizard, Podarcis erhardii, is a colour-polymorphic lizard...

The Sporades are one of the most biologically important archipelagos in the Aegean Sea (Greece) and have received priority conservation over the last 50 years. However, despite numerous early efforts, its herpetofauna is only partially described, resulting in many distributional gaps that have prevented adequate understanding and management of the...

Aggressive behavior can be used to establish and maintain access to crucial resources such as space, food, and mating opportunities. Color polymorphic animals sometimes exhibit morph-correlated aggressive behaviors that can influence relative reproductive success and, thus, the maintenance of polymorphism. The Aegean wall lizard, Podarcis erhardii,...

Reproductive investment, including the number of offspring produced, is one of the fundamental characteristics of a species. It is particularly important for island vertebrates, which face a disproportionate number of threats to their survival, because it predicts, among other things, a species’ resilience to environmental disruption. Taxa producin...

Many species exhibit color polymorphisms which have distinct physiological and behavioral characteristics. However, the consistency of morph trait covariation patterns across species, time, and ecological contexts remains unclear. This trait covariation is especially relevant in the context of invasion biology and urban adaptation. Specifically, ph...

Many species exhibit color polymorphisms which have distinct physiological and behavioral characteristics. However, the consistency of morph trait covariation patterns across species, time, and ecological contexts remains unclear. This trait covariation is especially relevant in the context of invasion biology and urban adaptation. Specifically, ph...

Synopsis “Sex” is often used to describe a suite of phenotypic and genotypic traits of an organism related to reproduction. However, these traits—gamete type, chromosomal inheritance, physiology, morphology, behavior, etc.—are not necessarily coupled, and the rhetorical collapse of variation into a single term elides much of the complexity inherent...

Widespread species often harbor unrecognized genetic diversity, and investigating the factors associated with such cryptic variation can help us better understand the forces driving diversification. Here, we identify potential cryptic species based on a comprehensive dataset of COI mitochondrial DNA barcodes from 2,333 individual Panamanian birds a...

Temperature rules the lives of ectotherms. To perform basic biological functions, ectotherms must make behavioral adjustments to keep their body temperatures near a preferred temperature (Tpref). Many color polymorphic lizards are active thermoregulators and exhibit morph differences in traits related to thermoregulation, such as color, body size,...

Sex is often used to describe a suite of phenotypic and genotypic traits of an organism related to reproduction. However, not all of these traits - gamete type, chromosomal inheritance, physiology, morphology, behavior, etc. - are necessarily linked, and the rhetorical collapse of variation into a single term elides much of the complexity inherent...

Temperature rules the lives of ectotherms. To perform basic biological functions, ectotherms must make behavioral adjustments to keep their body temperatures near a preferred temperature (Tpref). Many color polymorphic lizards are active thermoregulators and exhibit morph differences in traits related to thermoregulation, such as color, body size,...

While global patterns in body size evolution in island vertebrates have been described extensively, the ecological processes that generate these patterns are not well understood. Here we used variation among lizard populations occupying an archipelago to test hypotheses about body size evolution. We examined 35 populations of Aegean wall lizards (P...

Podarcis wall lizards mainly feed on coleopterans, orthopterans, arachnids, and other small invertebrates. However, Aegean wall lizards, Podarcis erhardii , are widely distributed across Aegean islands and are increasingly observed eating non-traditional food items ranging from plant material to conspecific eggs and body parts. Here, we report the...

Color polymorphism – two or more heritable color phenotypes maintained within a single breeding population – is an extreme type of intra-specific diversity widespread across the tree of life. Color polymorphism is hypothesized to be an engine for speciation, where morph loss or divergence between distinct color morphs within a species results in th...

Variation in color morph behavior is an important factor in the maintenance of color polymorphism. Alternative anti-predator behaviors are often associated with morphological traits such as coloration, possibly because predator-mediated viability selection favors certain combinations of anti-predator behavior and color. The Aegean wall lizard, Poda...

The study of island taxa can help reveal the mechanisms of natural selection when it acts on small, isolated populations. To elucidate how small populations evolve in high-competition, low-predation environments, we examined differences in morphological characteristics, tail autotomy rates, and home range sizes in several populations of Aegean Wall...

The study of island taxa can help reveal the mechanisms of natural selection when it acts on small, isolated populations. To elucidate how small populations evolve in high-competition, low-predation environments, we examined differences in morphological characteristics, tail autotomy rates, and home range sizes in several populations of Aegean Wall...

Understanding the relative importance of sexual and natural selection in shaping morphological traits is a long‐standing goal of evolutionary ecology. Male‐biased sexual size dimorphism (SSD) is typically associated with male‐male competition. Similarly, male polymorphisms are considered a consequence of competitive social interactions. This classi...

Global change, including habitat isolation and climate change, has both short- and long-term impacts on wildlife populations. For example, genetic drift and inbreeding result in genetic impoverishment in small, isolated populations, while species undergo range shifts or adaptive phenotypic change in response to shifts in environmental temperatures....

Body size often varies among insular populations relative to continental conspecifics – the ‘island rule’ – and functional, context‐dependent morphological differences tend to track this body size variation on islands. Two hypotheses are often proposed as potential drivers of insular population differences in morphology: one relating to diet and th...

Organisms generally have many defenses against predation yet may lack effective defenses if from populations without predators. Evolutionary theory predicts that ‘costly’ antipredator behaviors will be selected against when predation risk diminishes. We examined antipredator behaviors in Aegean wall lizards, Podarcis erhardii, across an archipelago...

ABSTRACT: Few data exist on the diet of reptiles from East Mediterranean islands, especially for meso-predators such as Podarcis lizards. We describe for the first time instances of frugivory and intra-specific ovophagy in two species of Podacris island lizards that until now, have exclusively been described as insectivorous. KEY WORDS: feeding ec...

Over evolutionary time, many organisms have developed an array of antipredator defenses to avoid and escape predation. Evolutionary theory predicts that ???costly??? antipredator behaviors are to be selected against in the event a prey becomes isolated from predators. Predator na??vet??, the ignorance of prey to threats imposed by predator species,...