Skeletal development in the fossorial gymnophthalmids Calyptommatus sinebrachiatus and Nothobachia ablephara

The development of the cartilaginous and bony elements that form the skull and axial and appendicular skeleton is described in detail for the post-ovipositional embryonic development of the fossorial gymnophthalmid species Calyptommatus sinebrachiatus and Nothobachia ablephara. Both species have a snake-like morphology, showing an elongated body and reduced or absent limbs, as well as modifications in skull bones for burrowing, such as complex articulation surfaces and development of bony extensions that enclose and protect the brain. Similar morphological changes have originated independently in several squamate groups, including the one that led to the snake radiation. This study characterizes the patterns of chondrogenesis and osteogenesis, with special emphasis on the features associated with the burrowing habit, and may be used for future comparative analyses of the developmental patterns involved in the origin of the convergent serpentiform morphologies. (C) 2012 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Puestas comunales en el geco Ptyodactylus oudrii

[ES] Es un hecho bien conocido que las hembras de las diferentes especies de la familia Gekkonidae ponen uno o dos huevos de cáscara dura por puesta (ver VITT, 1986), y la especie norteafricana Ptyodactylus oudrii (figura 1) no es una excepción a esta regla. BONS (1959, 1967) pone de manifiesto que en esta especie las puestas constan de dos únicos huevos íntimamente pegados el uno contra el otro, y que una sola hembra puede poner cinco y más puesta por año.