2020 Online Salon
Evolution’s stamp on island-dwelling lizards
Project Details
- Entrant Name: Valerie Altounian
- Membership Type: Professional Submission
- Other Contributors: Valerie Altounian
- Address: Austin, Texas USA
- Client: Science
- Copyright: 2020 AAAS
- Medium/software used: Photoshop, Illustrator
- Final presentation format: Within a News Feature story, print and digital
- Primary Audience: science-minded educated laypublic
Project Description
The purpose of this illustration is to be a visual explanation of convergent evolution as part of a news story about a researcher who uses anoles to study this topic. Convergent evolution is the idea that animals living in similar habitats on different islands independently evolved similar appearance and behavior. A large full color drawing of an anole anchors the composition and signals the subject matter. It’s an entry point and its shape guides the eye through the infographic. After presenting a map of the area of study, four different habitats are color-keyed. These habitats are present on each of the islands shown in the map. This coloration is carried through examples of limb length and toepad size. Lastly, a graphic showing the link between habitat brightness and dewlap brightness illustrates that evolution favors heightened contrast for visibility.
