Reproduction of a whiptail lizard (Ameivula ocellifera, Teiidae) from a coastal area in northeastern Brazil

Abstract

The reproductive ecology of Ameivula ocellifera was studied from September 2009 to August 2010 in a coastal area of the state of Ceará, Brazil. Females reproduced continuously throughout the year, with a peak at the end of the rainy season. Even though there was a predominance of pre-reproductive individuals in the sample, gonadal activity of males peaked synchronously to female reproduction. Mean clutch size was 1.98 ± 0.56 and positively associated with female body size, while mean egg volume was 510.54 ± 84.29 mm 3 and unrelated to female body size. We did not find any association between clutch size and average egg volume.

Aspidoscelis costatus costatus (Squamata, Teiidae): high elevation clutch production for a population of whiptail lizards

“…Its reproductive cycle is expressed within seasonal constraints, females are of moderately large reproductive size of 77-111 mm SVL, they produce a relatively large mean clutch of 6.5 ± 1.8 eggs which is correlated with SVL. Compared with a whiptail species of another teiid genus in a coastal area of the state of Ceará, Brazil, namely Ameivula ocellifera (Spix, 1825) (Harvey et al 2012), Zanchi-Silva et al (2014 found that adult females produce multiple clutches extending throughout the year, but peaking at the end of the rainy season, has a mean clutch size of only 1.98 ± 0.56 eggs that is positively associated with female body size. However, Sales and Ferire (2016) reported no correlation between clutch size and SVL in A. ocellifera, a difference that requires clarification as to whether it represents accidents of sampling, geographic variation, or a taxonomic causation.…”

Reproductive cycle of the oviparous lizard Sceloporus jalapae, from Zapotitlán Salinas, Puebla, Mexico

“…Gonads (ovaries and testis) and oviducts were dissected out and fixed in 10% buffered formalin. Size at sexual maturity was estimated as the size of the smallest female with oviductal eggs and the size of the smallest male with enlarged testes and hypertrophied epididymides (Manríquez‐Morán et al., ; Mesquita et al., ; Zanchi‐Silva et al., ).…”

“…In this species, matting and egg‐laying or offspring birth often occur from spring to summer (Fitch, ; Méndez‐de la Cruz, Villagrán‐Santa Cruz, Hernández‐Gallegos, Manríquez‐Morán, & Rodríguez‐Romero, ), although exist some species that mate in autumn (Guillette & Méndez‐de la Cruz, ). On the other hand, continuous reproductive patterns are common in tropical species of genera as Agama , Anolis , Ameiva , Ameivula , Aspidoscelis , Bachia , Cnemidophorus and Sceloporus (Chikwendu & Adeleke, ; García‐Collazo, Altamirano‐Álvarez, & Gómez‐Soto, ; Licht & Gorman, ; Ramos‐Pallares, Anaya‐Rojas, Serrano‐Cardozo, & Ramírez‐Pinilla, ; Soma & Brooks, ; Vitt & Breitenbach, ; Zanchi‐Silva, Borges‐Nojosa, & Galdino, ) that inhabit environments less variable. This kind of reproductive patterns can be divided into those that show similar levels of activity during the year and those with variable levels of reproductive activity (Licht, ).…”