Tail trifurcation in the lizard Salvator merianae (Squamata: Teiidae) investigated by computer tomography

When one tail isn't enough: abnormal caudal regeneration in lepidosaurs and its potential ecological impacts

“…(5) Aims of the review As our understanding of the costs and benefits of caudal autotomy increases, we are better able to consider the impacts, if any, of abnormal caudal regeneration. However, detailed investigations are lacking of abnormal caudal regeneration in lepidosaurs, its frequency and distribution through the taxon, and potential ecological impacts to individuals or even populations (Passos et al, 2016). Herein, we review available information on regenerative furcation and multifurcation regeneration events, and any abnormal caudal regeneration producing multiple tails in lepidosaurs.…”

First record of tail bifurcations in the snake-eyed skink (Ablepharus kitaibelii Bibron & Bory de Saint-Vincent, 1833) from Pastrina hill (northwestern Bulgaria)

“…1 studied specimens, the bifurcation was at the distal-most section of the tail. In some lizard species, the bifurcation may be positioned rather proximally (closer to the pelvis) and both sections of the tail may be equally developed (Dudek & Ekner-Grzyb, 2014;De Andrade et al, 2015;Passos et al, 2016). According to Passos et al (2016), such design may impact the locomotor performance of the affected individuals.…”

“…In some lizard species, the bifurcation may be positioned rather proximally (closer to the pelvis) and both sections of the tail may be equally developed (Dudek & Ekner-Grzyb, 2014;De Andrade et al, 2015;Passos et al, 2016). According to Passos et al (2016), such design may impact the locomotor performance of the affected individuals. The snake-eyed skink mainly inhabits the layer of fallen leaves in the oak forests (Stojanov et al, 2011) and avoids being eaten by sudden changes of direction in the 3-D surrounding.…”

“…The tail bifurcation is known for several lizard families but is considered rare (Dudek & Ekner-Grzyb, 2014). Sometimes, trifurcations (Pheasey et al, 2014;Koleska & Jablonski, 2015;Passos et al, 2016), and even hexafurcations, may occur (Pelegrin & Leão, 2015). Tail bifurcations have been recorded in some Agamidae species (Ananjeva & Danov, 1991;Martins et al, 2013), and also in some lacertids (Strijbosch, 1999;Stojanov et al, 2011;Dudek & Ekner-Grzyb, 2014), gekkonids (De Andrade et al, 2015), anguids (Cozendey et al, 2013), teiids (Goghliath et al, 2012;Cordes & Walker, 2013, Passos et al, 2016 and scincids (McKelvy & Stark, 2012).…”

New distribution record, ecology and tail trifurcation of Cyrtodactylus mamanwa (Gekkonidae) on Dinagat Islands, Philippines

“…Bifurcation is noted among multiple lizard families: Agamidae (Ofori et al 2018), Anguidae (Conzendey et al 2013), Corytophanidae (Cervera and Novelo 2020), Dactyloidae (Najbar and Skawiński 2018;Hoefer and Robinson 2020), Gekkonidae (De Andrade et al 2015;Gogoi et al 2018;Maria and Al-Razi 2018;Bhattari et al 2020), Gymnophtalmidae (Pheasey et al 2014), Iguanidae Lozano and Siro 2020), Lacertidae Baeckens et al 2018;Kornilev et al 2018;Ramadanovic and Zimic 2019;Sorlin et al 2019), Mabuyidae (Vrcibradic and Niemeyer 2013), Phrynosomatidae (Álvarez et al 2020), Phyllodactylidae (Filadelfo et al 2017;Koleska 2018;Tzoras et al 2020), Polychrotidae (Goin and Goin 1971), Scincidae (Jablonski 2016;Turner et al 2017;Vergilov and Natchev 2017;Mendes et al 2019;Magalhães et al 2020;Miles et al 2020), Teiidae (Sales and Freire 2019;Da Silva et al 2019) and Tropiduridae (Passos et al 2014). However, supernumerary (e.g., tail trifurcation) caudal anomalies were reported only for a few families: Dactyloidae (Camper and Camper 2017), Gymnophtalmidae (Pheasey et al 2014), Iguanidae (Hayes et al 2012), Lacertidae (Koleska and Jablonski 2015), Phrynosomatidae (Mata-Silva et al 2010), Gekkonidae (Crouch 1969) and Teiidae (Trauth et al 2014;Passos et al 2016).…”