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Cuadernos de herpetología

versión On-line ISSN 1852-5768

Cuad. herpetol. vol.29 no.1 San Salvador de Jujuy mayo 2015

 

NOTA

Report of reproduction in Ameiva cf. jacuba (Squamata: Teiidae) in Brazilian Cerrado

Bruno Tayar Marinho do Nascimento1, Guilherme Marson Moya2, Fábio Maffei3

1 Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Estadual Paulista - UNESP, 17033-360, Bauru, São Paulo, Brasil.

2 Instituto Pró Terra, Programa de Conservação da Biodiversidade, 17209-070, Jaú, São Paulo, Brasil. 3 Programa de Pós Graduação - Zoologia, Instituto de Biosciencias, Universidade Estadual Paulista - UNESP, 18618-000, Botucatu, São Paulo, Brasil.

Recibido: 17/12/13
Revisado: 31/03/14
Aceptado: 23/07/14


The family Teiidae is restricted to the New World and is represented by 10 genera in Brazil: Ameiva, Ameivula, Cnemidophorus, Contomastix, Crocodilurus, Dracaena, Kentropyx, Salvator, Teius, and Tupinambis (Bernils and Costa, 2012; Harvey et al., 2012). The reproductive ecology of members of this family has been reported in several studies (e. g.: Vitt and Price, 1982; Avila-Pires, 1995; Werneck et al., 2009; Menezes et al., 2011). Seasonality, clutch frequency, clutch size, egg size, and body size are important variables related to the life history of such oviparous lizards (Vitt and Price, 1982; Rodriguez-Ramirez and Lewis, 1991). Ameiva jacuba was described from specimens collected in the Emas National Park, Goias State, Brazil. The species (Snoutvent lenght up to 106 mm) is typical from Cerrado, occurring in the states of Goias and Mato Grosso, where it inhabits open areas such as "campo limpo" (Giugliano et al., 2013). On 20 September 2012, we collected a female of Ameiva cf. jacuba in the Santa Barbara Ecological Station (22° 47' 10.95" S; 49° 14' 41.93" W, 620 m a.s.l.), municipality of Aguas de Santa Barbara, state of Sao Paulo, southeastern Brazil (Fig. 1). This protected area is in the extreme south of the Cerrado biome limits. The specimen was captured in a pitfall trap, kept alive for seven days, and later euthanized. It measures were: 102 mm of snout-vent length (SVL), 280 mm of total length, and weighed 29 g (with eggs). Three elliptical shelled eggs weighing 2.5 g each (22.75 mm x 13.6 mm; 23.75 mm x 13.15 mm, 24 mm x 13.6 mm) were removed. The weight without eggs was 21.5 g. The relative clutch mass (ratio of clutch mass to body mass after Vitt and Pianka, 2003) represented 25.8 % of lizard total weight.


Figure 1. A) Female of Ameiva cf. jacuba and (B) their three elliptical eggs.

Similar clutch sizes have been reported for other teiids. Avila-Pires (1995), in a review of Ameiva ameiva, reported a clutch size of 2 to 6 eggs. In Ameiva exsul, Rodriguez-Ramirez and Lewis (1991) found females with 1 to 3 eggs. In Ameivula ocellifera, Vitt (1983) reported 1 to 5 eggs per clutch. Studies on other teiids suggest a ratio between total mass and egg mass. Females of Kentropyx paulensis have a small body size and their eggs are more numerous and small, but the relative clutch mass ranges between 25% and 28% (Dos Anjos et al., 2002). According to Vitt (1983), the number of eggs in a clutch of certain species of lizards seems dependent on female body size. In Salvator, the largest genus of the family (up to 400 mm of SVL), the number of eggs can reach 20 to 35 (Fitzgerald, 1994). However, this relationship is not necessarily a rule. In some species, the number of eggs is fixed. For example, in Ameiva wetmorei, Ameivula mumbuca and Ameivula jalapensis the number of eggs is always one (Rodriguez-Ramirez and Lewis, 1991; Colli et al., 2003; 2009). Considering all lizards, most species has 1-4 eggs and egg size varies according to the quantity produced, where more eggs = smaller eggs, fewer eggs = larger eggs (Pianka and Vitt, 2003).

This report constitutes a contribution to the knowledge of the reproductive ecology of teiids lizards and the herpetofauna of the southern portion of the Cerrado biome in Brazil.

Acknowledgments

We thank Federico Arias and Marco Sena for assistance in the identification of the specimen for deposit and for valuable comments on the manuscript. We thank Cristiano Nogueira for relevant suggestions. The collection permit was provided by the Chico Mendes Institute of Biodiversity Conservation (License SISBIO 30833-2). The Forestry Institute allowed the fieldwork, included in the project "Efeito do fogo em populacoes de anfíbios e repteis na Estacao Ecologica de Santa Barbara"(Process SMA: 011291/2011). FM thanks CAPES for fellowship.

 

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