Some reproductive and feeding characteristics of the viviparous Mexican lizard Sceloporus torquatus (Phrynosomatidae)

摘要

Since the classic studies by Tinkle et al. (1970) and Fitch (1970, 1978, 1985), few works on lizard reproduction have been developed to test the hypothesis that lizards exhibit a great diversity of reproductive activity patterns (Ramirez-Bautista and Vitt, 1997, 1998). Reproduction in many lizard species from seasonally tropical environments is typically cyclical, with courtship, mating, and copulation occurring at the beginning, incubation during, and hatching at the end of the rainy season (RamfrezBautista et al., 1995; Ramfrez-Bautista and Vitt, 1997; Lemos-Espinal et al., 1999). Other tropical species are either seasonal and dependent on rainfall and food availability, or are aseasonal with respect to reproduction, exhibiting reproductive activity throughout the year (Benabib, 1994). In contrast, species inhabiting temperate zones of high elevation exhibit distinct patterns of seasonal reproductive activity (Guillette, 1981, 1982; Mendez de la Cruz et al., 1988; Smith et al., 1995). Viviparous lizards inhabiting high elevations exhibit fall reproductive activity (Guillette, 1982) in which gametogenesis, courtship, and mating occur during the fall, and embryos develop throughout the winter months, with parturition taking place during early spring (Goldberg, 1970, 1971; Ballinger, 1973; Guillette, 1983; Mendez de la Cruz et al., 1988; Ballinger and Lemos-Espinal, 1995; Ramirez-Bautista et al., 1996, 1998).