engleski

Morphology and reproduction of the Snake-eyed Skink (Ablepharus kitaibelii Bibron & Bory de Saint-Vincent, 1833) in the western most part of its range

The most western population of the Snake-eyed Skink, discovered recently on Papuk Mountain and Ilok area in Croatia, has never been studied before. Here we examined the morphology and age structure, reproduction, and prevalence of injuries in both populations. We examined 191 individuals in total ; 163 adults and 28 juveniles. Morphological analysis was based on 140 adult individuals (129 from Papuk, 11 from Ilok) and 34 juveniles (21 caught in the wild and 13 hatched in captivity). Our results showed that although there is no clear sexual dimorphism, adult animals exhibit slight difference between sexes. In adult individuals in Papuk 34.1 % and in 35 % in juveniles, a tail has been regenerated, while in Ilok in 27.3%. From 2010-2012 nine gravid females collected from Papuk Mountain deposited eggs in the lab. Number of eggs in each clutch was recorded, and each egg was weighed and measured, and the measurements were taken regularly until hatching. Clutch size spanned between 2-4 eggs with an average of 2.78 eggs. Of 25 deposited eggs, 9 eggs did not develop. Monitoring of egg sizes showed that average length, width, mass, surface and volume increase linearly during the incubation time, but the growth was allometric. The bigger the size of a female does not result in increased number of eggs, but in increased individual egg size.

reptilia ; squamata ; sauria ; scincidae ; sexual dimorphism ; Ilok ; Papuk

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