A COMPARATIVE-ANALYSIS OF CLINGING ABILITY AMONG PAD-BEARING LIZARDS

We examined clinging ability, subdigital pad area and body mass in 14 pad-bearing lizard species from three families to test three predictio ns: (1) clinging ability and pad area should be tightly correlated amo ng species; (2) pad area and clinging ability should scale similarly t o body mass among 14 species; and (3) functional similarity in clingin g capabilities should exist among species despite differences in body mass. Our results confirm two predictions; clinging ability is tightly correlated with pad area, even when the effects of body size are remo ved, and the lizards examined are approximately functionally similar i n their clinging capabilities. Nevertheless, despite the tight correla tion between pad area and clinging ability, pad area scales with body mass by a lower slope than clinging ability. Overall, these results in dicate that although pad area is a strong determinant of clinging abil ity, other Factors enable these lizards to maintain functional similar ity.