Hurricanes are catastrophically destructive and can have long-lasting effects on ecological systems. For instance, the Atlantic hurricane season of 2005 was a particularly strong one with record breaking 27 named storms. Mass mortality observed after hurricanes may be a force of natural selection.
The hypothesis that destructive events such as hurricanes could drive natural selection has been controversial. In order to test this, scientists surveyed a common, small-bodied lizard (Anolis scriptus) that lives throughout the Turks and Caicos archipelago before and after hurricanes Irma and Maria. The morphological traits related to clinging capacity, body size, relative limb length and toepad size of surviving lizards differed from those present before the storm. Indeed hurricanes appear to have selected for traits that help cope with high wind speeds.
Researchers concluded that hurricanes can induce phenotypic change in populations through natural selection. Global warming leads to extreme climate events. Hurricanes are becoming more intense and prevalent. Therefore our understanding of evolutionary dynamics needs to include the effects of these severe selective events.
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