REPRODUCTIVE CYCLE OF THE CENTRAL AMERICAN MABUYA, MABUYA UNIMARGINATA (SQUAMATA: SCINCIDAE) FROM COSTA RICA

摘要

The Central American mabuya, Mabuya unimarginata is a common diurnal skink ranging from Colima and Veracruz, Mexico to Panama at 1-1,500 m where it inhabits a variety of habitats (Savage 2002). Information on its reproduction is in Webb (1958), McCoy (1966), Fitch (1973), Alvarez del Toro (1982), Savage (2002) and Guyer & Donnelly (2005). Females give birth to live young. The purpose of this paper is to add to the knowledge of the reproductive biology of M. unimarginata from a histological analysis of gonadal material. The first information on the M. rnunimarginata testicular cycle is presented. New minimum sizes for reproduction in males and females of M. unimarginata are reported.