Parallel evolution of character displacement driven by competitive selection in terrestrial salamanders

Background  

Parallel evolution can occur when common environmental factors exert similar selective forces on morphological variation in populations in different geographic localities. Competition can also generate morphological shifts, and if competing species co-occur in multiple geographic regions, then repeated instances of competitively-driven morphological divergence (character displacement) can occur. Despite the importance of character displacement for inferring the role of selection in morphological evolution however, replicated instances of sympatric morphological divergence are understudied.