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Reproduction in the Siamese leaf-toed gecko, Dixonius siamensis (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from Thailand.

Article Excerpt
The Siamese leaf-toed gecko (Siam-blattfinger), Dixonius siamensis is known from Thailand where it occurs from Songkhla, south to the Isthmus of Kra and north to at least Chiang Mai, from southern Myanmar to the Lao People's Democratic Republic, Vietnam and likely Cambodia (Bauer et al. 2004). It occurs from sea level to at least 700 m (Manthey & Grossman 1997) and inhabits a variety of forest types and occasionally occurs in developed areas; females deposit clutches of two eggs during the rainy season (Cox et al. 1999). The purpose of this note is to provide information on the reproductive cycle of D. siamensis from a histological analysis of monthly gonad samples from museum specimens collected in Thailand. Minimum sizes for reproduction in males and females of S. siamensis are given. This paper represents the first detailed account of reproduction in D. siamensis. Comparisons are made with the timing of reproduction of other lizards from the tropics.

A total of 105 D. siamensis from Thailand including 49 females (mean snout vent length, SVL = 42.5 mm [+ or -] 4.9 SD, range = 33-52 mm), 50 males (mean SVL = 41.5 mm [+ or -] 5.3 SD, range = 29-52 mm) and 6 presumed neonates (mean SVL = 21.0 mm [+ or -]1.1 SD, range = 19-22 mm) were examined from the herpetology collection of the Field Museum of Natural History (FMNH), Chicago, Illinois. Geckos were collected 1957-1960, 1967 and 1969.

For histological examination, the...

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