Chengming HUANG,Zhengjun WU,Shuyi LUO,et al.Mating Ethogram of a Video-aided Study of Mating and Parturition in Captive Chinese Crocodile Lizards (Shinisaurus crocodilurus)[J].Asian Herpetological Research(AHR),2019,10(4):253-260.[doi:10.16373/j.cnki.ahr.180079]
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Mating Ethogram of a Video-aided Study of Mating and Parturition in Captive Chinese Crocodile Lizards (Shinisaurus crocodilurus)
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Asian Herpetological Research[ISSN:2095-0357/CN:51-1735/Q]

Issue:
2019 VoI.10 No.4
Page:
253-260
Research Field:
Publishing date:
2019-12-25

Info

Title:
Mating Ethogram of a Video-aided Study of Mating and Parturition in Captive Chinese Crocodile Lizards (Shinisaurus crocodilurus)
Author(s):
Chengming HUANG1; 2; *;  Zhengjun WU2; 3;  Shuyi LUO4;  Jiasong HE4;  Chunsheng YANG4;  Meng MENG5;  Lu YAO6; 7 and Zhigao ZENG1
1 Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
2 Key Laboratory of Ecology of Rare and Endangered Species and Environmental Protection (Guangxi Normal University), Ministry of Education, Guilin 541004, China
3 Guangxi Key Laboratory of Rare and Endangered Animal Ecology, Guangxi Normal University, Guilin 541004, China
4 Daguishan National Nature Reserve, Hezhou, Guangxi 542800, China
5 Chinese Wildlife Conservation Association, Beijing 100110, China
6 Department of Mammalogy, American Museum of Natural History, New York 10024, USA
7 Department of Anthropology, Hunter College, New York 10065, USA
Keywords:
lizard;  mating and reproduction;  behavior;  quantitive study
PACS:
-
DOI:
10.16373/j.cnki.ahr.180079
Abstract:
Mating behavior and parturition are important components in the life history of any species. The endangered Chinese crocodile lizard (Shinisaurus crocodilurus) is suffering dramatic population decreases in the wild. Successful captive breeding can provide individuals to be reintroduced into their natural habitat and help to restore the wild populations. Studying the mating behavior and parturition of these lizards in captivity will enable us understand how is this ancient species reproduction and optimize artificial reproduction protocol. We studied the mating behavior and parturition of Chinese crocodile lizards in captivity using video recordings at the Daguishan National Nature Reserve, China, from 2015 to 2017. We analyzed pre-copulation and copulation, which occurred in mid-March to late May from all studied years. Pre-copulation and copulation lasted on average 7.51 (n = 11) and 27.45 (n = 11) minutes, respectively. We found that large-bodied male lizards have longer copulation periods, a pattern seen in other lizard species. In the mating event, males always initiated sex, while the females were passive. The duration of parturition lasted 153.8 ± 26.8 (n = 46) minutes, and larger females had heavier clutches. In addition, even though Chinese crocodile lizards represent an ancient lizard clade with primitive characteristics, they still abide by the reproduction patterns seen in most other lizard species.

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Last Update: 2019-12-25