Over-water dispersal to small islets is an important eco-evolutionary
process. Most often, new arrivals on islets find the environment harsh
or mate-less, making their footholds on these islets fleeting.
Occasionally, introduced animals are able to survive the strong
selection following their arrival, leading to subsequent propagation
and, in several famous cases, adaptive radiation. What traits predict
that initial survival? We established a replicated island introduction
experiment to investigate this process in lizards. In 2014, we
introduced 20 Podarcis erhardii lizards to each of five small islets in
the Greek Cyclades Islands. We found that the lizards that survived were
those with better initial body condition, longer distal portions of
their limbs and a greater propensity for jumping. Contrary to our
expectations, neither body size nor the strength of the lizards' bite -
two traits positively related to competitive ability, which becomes
important later in the colonization process in lizards - predicted
survival. This is the first selection study of its kind investigating an
experimental introduction of Podarcis, and whether the traits that
determined initial survival are important in driving the future
evolutionary trajectories of these populations remains to be determined
