DOI: 10.1080/10635150802304779 The Role of Geography and Ecological Opportunity in the Diversification

Abstract.—We examine the effects of ecological opportunity and geographic area on rates of species accumulation and morphological evolution following archipelago colonization in day geckos (genus Phelsuma) in the Indian Ocean. Using a newly generated molecular phylogeny for the genus, we present evidence that these geckos likely originated on Madagas-car, whereas colonization of three archipelagos in the Indian Ocean, the Seychelles, Mascarene, and Comoros Islands has produced three independent monophyletic radiations. We find that rates of species accumulation are not elevated following colonization but are roughly equivalent on all three isolated archipelagos and on the larger island of Madagascar. However, rates of species accumulation have slowed through time on Madagascar. Rates of morphological evolution are higher in both the Mascarene and Seychelles archipelagos compared to rates on Madagascar. This negative relationship between rate of morphological evolution and island area suggests that ecological opportunity is an important factor in diversification of day gecko species. [Adaptive radiation; Indian Ocean; molecular phylogeny; speciation. rate of evolution.] Both geography and ecological opportunity are thought to play a key role in species diversification. Many species groups have diversified extensively upon reaching geographically isolated islands uninhabited by potential competitors (see Grant, 1998, and reference