ANNUAL VARIATION IN GONADAL CYCLES AND FAT BODIES IN THE LIZARD CNEMIDOPHORUS LONGICAUDA

GRACIELA BLANCO; JUAN CARLOS ACOSTA; LIA PIAGGIO; GABRIEL CASTILLO; RODRIGO NIEVA; ANA VICTORICA; MARTORI RICARDO

Mendoza

Congreso; CUYO BIOLOGY SOCIETY; 2010

In this study we compared for two consecutive years gonadal and fatbodies cycles in a population of the lizard Cnemidophorus longicaudafrom the Monte desert of San Juan. We described the following reproductiveevents: ovulation, oviposition, births, fat bodies and testicularcycles. Also we identified life history parameters such as size,minimum reproductive age, clutch size and clutch frequency. Individualswere measured and sexed, yolked follicles or eggs in oviductand testicles were removed and measured to estimate their volume.Fat bodies were weighed. Reproductive cycle in this species beganin early spring (southern hemisphere) for both years and finished inApril during the 1st year and in March in the 2nd year. Ovulationstarted earliest in October, as is characteristic in most teiids. Ovipositionbegan in December, showing a single event that varied betweenone and two eggs per season. Reproductive activity decreasedgradually resulting in gonadal regression by January, which coincidedwith births in both periods. Female?s reproductive effort variedsignificantly between months. Males and female cycles weresynchronous and showed an inverse pattern with respect to abdominalfat body cycles. Therefore, in both sexes, gonadal activity developedrapidly with strong evidence of a phylogenetic component withmore weight in determining the cycle that variation in environmentalconditions.