THE REPRODUCTIVE CYCLE OF THE VIVIPAROUS LIZARD PSEUDOCORDYLUS M. MELANOTUS (SAURIA: CORDYLIDAE) IN THE ORANGE FREE STATE

Abstract

Reproduction in the viviparous lizard, Pseudocordylus m. melanotus, is distinctly seasonal. Females exhibit autumn/winter vitellogenic activity, with ovulation occurring during July-September. Females are gravid during the late winter-spring period and parturition follows in early summer (December), with 1–6 young being produced. Males exhibit a basic pre-nuptial spermatogenic cycle. Testicular recrudescence begins in summer, followed by peak size and spermiogenesis in late summer/early autumn, and testicular regression during winter and spring. Males become reproductively active during a period of increasing ambient temperature and photoperiod, whereas these environmental parameters declined during the onset of vitellogenesis in females.