Clutch size in populations and species of cnemidophorines (Squamata: Teiidae) on the eastern coast of Brazil

Abstract

We analyzed some reproductive aspects of 16 coastal populations, belonging to five lizard species (A. ocellifera, A. abaetensis, A. nativo, A. littoralis and C. lacertoides) from different restinga habitats along the eastern coast of Brazil. This study aimed to evaluate to what extent the reproductive aspects vary geographically and among species. For each female, we recorded the number of vitellogenic follicles, size and color of the largest follicle, presence and size of corpora lutea, and number and size of oviductal eggs. Clutch size of almost all coastal populations/species of Ameivula had little variation and most clutches were composed of two eggs. There was a significant relationship between female size and the mean clutch size when females from different species were pooled. Mean egg volume, among species, varied from 420 to 655 mm 3 . Relative clutch mass varied from 0.129 to 0.159 and did not differ significantly among species. We concluded that the five coastal species studied (four bisexuals and one parthenogenetic) had similar reproductive characteristics. Most of them presented multiple clutches, low clutch size and low relative clutch mass, similar to other species in the genus and to unisexual and bisexual species of the Teiidae family.

Habitat structure and their influence in lizard’s presence

“…Once vegetation is fundamental to lizards due to their use as a refuge and site for thermoregulation, shelter and feeding, and the ecology of species make them sensible to changes in environmental characteristics (Pianka & Vitt, 2003;Faria et al, 2007), understanding the effects of habitat loss (Cosendey et al, 2016), degradation and fragmentation of the habitat becomes essential to the development of public policies to conserve the fragmented ecosystems (Hokit et al, 1999). The endemism of G. littoralis to only four restingas areas of Rio de Janeiro State, the specificity in the use of micro-habitat, the requirement of specific body temperatures and the relatively low brood size (Menezes & Rocha, 2014), can contribute to their vulnerability to structural changes in the habitat. Once the populations studied are restricted to isolated areas represented by fragments surrounded by large cities and deforested areas, individuals cannot migrate, which threatened them even more in terms of extinction risk.…”

A summary of reptile and anuran amphibian species from Brazilian sandy coastal plains: 31 years of sampling efforts of the “Laboratório de Ecologia de Vertebrados, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro”

“…We have also investigated feeding and foraging habits of different components of herpetofauna in restinga which allowed us to understand the trophic relationships among sympatric lizard species, frogs and other local vertebrates and invertebrates as prey and predators to produce an approximation to a trophic net among species in a restinga area in the state of Rio de Janeiro (Rocha and Vrcibradic, 1998), and to assess how adult lizards may constitute a mortality source for juvenile lizards in their own communities (Siqueira and Rocha, 2008 -Rocha, 2008). An important issue is some differences in age at maturity among populations of the same species and a general trend of an effect of female body size on clutch size, egg volume and/or on relative clutch mass (Rocha and Vrcibradic, 1999;Vrcibradic and Rocha, 2011;Winck and Rocha, 2012;Menezes and Rocha, 2014). Further studies on reproductive traits of many sandy coastal plain's species are still needed to better understand general patterns for families along its geographical distribution.…”

Nematode assemblages associated with the parthenogenetic lizard Ameivula nativo in six restinga areas along the eastern coast of Brazil

“…The lizard A. nativo is a parthenogenetic species endemic to restinga habitats of south-eastern and north-eastern Brazil that is presently categorized as threatened with extinction (MMA, 2014). Its known distribution ranges from Setiba in the state of Espírito Santo (20°34′S; 40°27′W) northwards to Camamu in the State of Bahia (13°55′S, 39°00′W) (Rocha et al ., 1999; Vrcibradic et al ., 2002c; Menezes & Rocha, 2013, 2014). In the present study we compared the nematode assemblages associated with A. nativo in six areas of restinga habitats in the states of Espírito Santo and southern Bahia, covering the whole known distribution range of the species.…”