The Herpetological Journal

pp.7-18

Authors: Eliezer Frankenberg And Yehudah L. Werner

Abstract: We provide data on the fecundity of locally common Israeli reptiles, and use these data to examine current ideas on the reproductive ecology of lizards. Our methodology was selected in consideration of the acute problems of nature conservation in Israel. In the museum collections of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv University we used radiography to locate the shelled oviductal eggs of 164 female lizards. belonging to eleven species (Agamidae and Lacertidae). Each sample sums the species· variation over its range and over different years. Female body size. egg number and egg volume were determined. Specific clutch volumes. relative to maternal body lengths. resembled those reported in iguanid lizards from tropical America. Clutch size varied intraspecifically and. in most species, correlated to maternal size. In others, egg size was more influenced by maternal size. We argue that the latter species oviposit in more stable environments than do the majority.