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Reproductive cycle of the spotted sand lizard, Meroles suborbitalis (Squamata: Lacertidae) from South Africa.

Article Excerpt
Abstract. -- The reproductive cycle of the spotted sand lizard, Meroles suborbitalis was studied from a histological examination of gonads. The reproductive cycle is prolonged with males undergoing spermiogenesis in all months examined. Females with reproductively active ovaries were found in all months except July. Histological evidence is presented (corpora lutea and yolk deposition in the same ovary) that more than one clutch can be produced in the same reproductive period. Females undergo a quiescent period between clutches. Regression analysis revealed a significant correlation between female body size and clutch size. Mean clutch size for 55 gravid females was 3.98 [+ or -] 1.01 SD, range 1-6. One and two eggs are new minimum clutch sizes for M. suborbitalis. The smallest reproductively active male measured 45 mm SVL; the smallest reproductively active female measured 48 mm SVL. The prolonged reproductive cycle of M. suborbitalis resembles that of Meroles anchietae.

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The spotted sand lizard, Meroles suborbitalis, lives in arid savannah to desert from the Central Karoo to Little Namaqualand and Southern Namibia, extending to the central parts of the Namib Desert (Branch 1998). It is a sit and wait predator (Pianka 1971; Auerbach 1987). Brief information on its reproduction appeared in Fitzsimons (1943), Auerbach (1987) and Branch (1998). Branch (1998) reported breeding appeared to be continuous in the central Namib Desert with females producing eggs throughout the year. The purpose of this paper is to examine the reproductive cycle of M. suborbitalis from the Republic of South Africa and to compare it with reproduction in other south African lacertid lizards.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

One-hundred eighty-nine male (mean snout-vent length, SVL = 53.8 mm [+ or -] 3.5 SD, range = 45-63 mm), 130 female (mean SVL = 55.6 mm [+ or -] 3.3 SD, range = 48-65 mm) and 8 neonates (mean SVL = 27.0 mm [+ or -] 1.6 SD, range = 24-29 mm) were examined from the herpetology collection...

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