The scansorial arboreal tropidurid Plica plica is widespread in Amazonia (Vitt 1990. Can. J. Zool. 69:504–511). Reproduction in P. plica has been studied (Vitt, op. cit.), but data are lacking on the incubation interval. Here, we provide preliminary data on the incubation interval for P. plica. On 4 March 2005, the day after the capture of a gravid female (145 mm SVL, 80 g) at Floresta Nacional de Carajás, Estado do Pará, Brazil (06.30°S, 50.20°W; elev. 500 m), she laid a clutch of five eggs in laboratory. The clutch was maintained in a plastic tub with moist sand and litter, at a constant 24°C. Placed near a glass window, the tub received indirect ambient light throughout incubation, but light regime was not rigorously controlled. One egg spoiled the week after oviposition and was discarded. The remaining four eggs hatched in 122 days (on 4 July 2005). Hatching from the first three eggs was almost simultaneous (at 1340, 1345 and 1346 h), but the fourth hatchling emerged almost two hours later (1538 h). Table 1 provides measurements of hatchlings. Simultaneous hatching of the first 3 eggs agrees with Vitt (op. cit.), who described synchronous hatching of P. plica eggs after disturbance. Compahia Vale do Rio Doce supported this work.
TABLE 1. Measurements of four Plica plica hatchlings from Estado do Pará, Brazil.
Individual Snout–vent length Tail length Mass (mm) (mm) (g) 1 40.8 77.0 3.0 2 41.5 77.0 3.0 3 41.0 74.0 3.0 4 39.6 72.0 2.9
Submitted by ELILDO A.R. CARVALHO-JR, JOSAPHAT A.D. CHAVES, and CÉSAR DE SÁ CARVALHO NETO, Instituto Ambiental Vale do Rio Doce, Estrada Raymundo Mascarenhas, km 26, s/n, 68516-000 Serra dos Carajás, Parauapebas, Pará, Brazil; e-mail: elildojr@gmail.com. |