摘要：
Ecomorphology is an integrative discipline that focuses on the relationship between organismal morphology and ecology and behavior. Its principal tenet is the use of whole-animal performance measures to link morphology to ecology and behavior. Done in a comparative phylogenetic framework, patterns of ecomorphological evolution can be identified. The feeding ecomorphology of a clade of lizards, the Crotaphytidae, is a contribution to such research. Trophic apparatus morphology, dietary ecology, feeding behavior, and bite-force performance are examined; ecomorphological links are identified. Interspecific comparison of the trophic apparatus morphology of crotaphytid lizards shows that derived taxa in the genera examined exhibit a pattern of reduced cranial and rostral robustness as well as elongation of the rostrum. Analysis of the dietary ecology of crotaphytids reveals that saurophagous specialization is a derived characteristic positively correlated with reduced cranial robustness and rostral elongation. Also, durophagous specialization, i.e., consumption of hard-integumented insect taxa, is ancestral for Crotaphytus and positively correlated with great cranial robustness and rostral truncation. Examination of crotaphytids dispatching prey lizards reveals that C. collaris, with a robust cranium and short rostrum, uses head-crushing bites during saurophagy. Gambelia wislizenii , with a relatively lightly built cranium and elongate rostrum, uses holding compressive bites to the torso to incapacitate prey lizards. Crotaphytus bicinctores, a morphological intermediate, exhibits a composite of the behaviors observed for the other species. Quantification of bite-force performance shows that reduced cranial robustness, rostral elongation, and increased saurophagy are correlated with reduced peak bite-force performance and increased holding bite-force performance. The phylogenetic perspective reveals that this is a general derived pattern for both genera. Great cranial rob
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