The Male Reproductive Cycle of the Bedriaga's Plate-tailed Gecko, Teratoscincus bedriagai in Iran

Abstract

The Bedriaga's Plate-tailed Gecko, Teratoscincus bedriagai, Nikolsky, 1900 is distributed in the northern and eastern deserts of Sistan, Iran and the desert regions of southern Afghanistan. In this research, the male reproductive cycle of this lizard has been studied from 5 April to 5 August, 2013. Totally, 40 adult males were collected by hand at midnight from four adjacent stations in Damghan County, Semnan Province of Iran. Most of the lizards were observed on highly saline, loose soil covered with a thin salt crust, and were common near Tamarix bushes. Animals were transferred to the laboratory and their morphometric characters were measured. After anesthetizing the animals, their testes were removed and processed for morphometric and histological studies. Results showed that the spermatogenesis started after hibernation from early April and ended in August. The peak of spermatogenesis was in May. The numbers of seminiferous tubules were 24-75 and their diameter varied between 72.50 and 232.50 microns. The diameter of tunica albuginea varied between 3.05 and 8.20 microns and diameter of germinal layer varied between 20.40 and 124.30 microns. Spermatogenesis of T. bedriagai in Iran is seasonal and alternates with associate type.