phenotypic plasticity

Phenotypic plasticity is the ability of an individual to change its phenotype to be better fit and thrive in a certain environment 

In the paper analyzing lizard's phenotypic plasticity, it was seen that there was a difference in coloration in lizards living on the lava flow versus away from the lava flow. In order to determine this, they looked at 104 different individuals and  found two regulators of melanin production which were PREP and PRKAR1. It was seen that in lizards away from the lava flow, in both regulators they were homozygous for the AA alleles. In the lizards on the lava flow, they exhibited different frequency of the alleles in the regulators as seen below

when analyzing the lizards on lava flow, they exhibited 35% AC and 60% AA in the PREP regulator and 45% AG and 55% AA in the PRKAR1A regulator

This figure shoes the ability of the lizard's phenotypic plasticity by lizards away from the lava being transported to living in the environment on lava flow. The lizards exhibit a color change to a darker pigment /phenotype to better survive in this environment  

The results of this study can hypothesize that the increased pigmentation in lizards living on the lava flow is a result of positive selection and that survival of the initial lizard living on lava flow caused a genetic variation that changed the phenotype for these lizards to be better fit to survive and reproduce in this environment !