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Reproduction of the Prairie Skink, Eumeces Septentrionalis, in Nebraska

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Reproduction of the Prairie Skink, Eumeces Septentrionalis, in Nebraska Great Basin Naturalist Volume 47 Number 3 Article 3 7-31-1987 Reproduction of the prairie skink, Eumeces septentrionalis, in Nebraska Louis A. Somma University of Nebraska at Omaha Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/gbn Recommended Citation Somma, Louis A. (1987) "Reproduction of the prairie skink, Eumeces septentrionalis, in Nebraska," Great Basin Naturalist: Vol. 47 : No. 3 , Article 3. Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/gbn/vol47/iss3/3 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Western North American Naturalist Publications at BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Great Basin Naturalist by an authorized editor of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. REPRODUCTION OF THE PRAIRIE SKINK, EUMECES SEPTENTRIONALIS, IN NEBRASKA Louis A. Soinma Abstract —Clutch sizes of the prairie skink, Eumeces septciitrioiialis, in Nebraska are positively correlated with female snout-vent lengths (SV'Ls). Data presented in this study and others indicate Nebraska populations of E. septentrioiialis have larger average clutch sizes than other populations within this species' range. The prairie skink, Eumeces septentrionalis, Table 1. Female SVL, clutch size, and mean egg di- mension for Eumeces septentrionalis. is a semi-fossorial, oviparous lizard inhabiting the central lowland province region and tall- SVL grass prairies of North America (Breckenridge 1943, Nelson 1963). In Nebraska, E. septcn- trionolis is found primarily in tall-grass prairies (Lynch 1985) and urban habitat (Somma 1985a). Few reproductive data exist for Nebraska populations (Gehlbach and Col- lette 1959, Iverson 1976, Somma 1985b). This study summarizes data on clutch size and SVL of 21 captive female E. septentrionalis col- lected in eastern Nebraska. Eighteen gravid females from Douglas County and three from Pawnee County were collected in May 1984 and placed in separate plastic terraria containing a moist soil sub- strate. Each terrarium contained a 15 x 15- cm acrylic plate under which the skinks could oviposite. The skinks were fed crickets and mealworms ad libitum. A 14L:10D photo- period was maintained for the duration of the study. Oviposition occurred between 18 and 30 June, and the eggs were brooded by the fe- males. Measurements of initial egg dimen- sions were obtained for each clutch (Table 1). An egg that was removed from one clutch immediately upon oviposition contained an embryo in an advanced stage (32-33) of devel- opment (Dufaure and Hubert 1961). One fe- male died before ovipositing and was found to contain 7 oviducal eggs that were included in the analysis. The mean clutch size was 10.95 ± 0.85 eggs (range - 4-18). A linear regres- sion (Sokal and Rohlf 1981) indicates that clutch size has a highly significant positive 374 Great Basin Naturalist Vol. 47, No. 3 Acknowledgments 18 17 I thank D. Fawcett, T. Cherney, M. y =6.79x -38.20 J. 16 F. R. 15 r'zO.TOe Cherney, Kock, J. Lokke, J. O'Hare, 14 Vaughn, L. Ward, and S. Wurster for assist- 13 12 ing with this study. I also thank J. D. Fawcett NUJ 11 for his guidance and encouragement. These 1° 55 data were part of a master's thesis presented 8 to the Department of Biology, University of 7 Nebraska at Omaha. The Department of Biol- 6 5 - ogy provided funding for this study. 4 - 3 - 2 Literature Cited Breckenridce. W J 194.3. The life history of the black- 6.0 6.5 7.0 7.5 8.0 baiided skink Eumeces septentrionalis septentri- FEMALE SNOUT-VENT LENGTH (CM) onalis {hMrd). Amer. Midi. Nat. 29: .591-606. Clarke. R F 19.55. Observations on Eumeces s. septen- Fig. 1. Regression plot of clutch size vs. female S\'L for trionalis in Kansas. Herpetologica II: 159-164. Eumeces septenfrionalis. DuF.\URE, J P . .'\ndJ Hubert 1961. Table de developpe- nient dn lezard vivipare: Lacerta (Zootoca) livipara Jacquin. Arch. Anat. Micro. Morph. Fitch (1985) has summarized chitch size Exp. (Paris) 50: 309-328. data for Eumeces septentrionalis using previ- Fitch, H S 1985. Variation in clutch and litter size in New World reptiles. Univ. Kansas Misc. Publ. ously published data. Populations were de- Mus. Nat. Hist. (78): 1-76. scribed as "northern (Breckenridge 1943) or Gehlbach, F R , and B B. Collette. 1959. Distribu- "southern" (Clarke 1955, Gehlbach and Col- tional and biological notes on the Nebraska her- lette 1959, Sabath and Worthington 1959, petofauna. Herpetologica 15: 141-143. Iverson, B 1976. Notes on Nebraska reptiles. Trans. Iverson 1976) and were combined to obtain a J Kansas Acad. Sci. 77: 51-62. mean for "northern" populations and another Lynch, J D 1985. Annotated checklist of the amphibians larger mean representing "southern popula- and reptiles of Nebraska. Trans. Nebraska Acad. tions (Fitch 1985). These data were used to Sci. 13: .33-57. Nelson, W F 1963. Natural histor\ of the northern illustrate a north-south trend in increasing prairie skink, Eumeces septentrionalis septentri- clutch size within this lizard s range. Listing onalis (Bair.d). Lhipublished dissertation. Univer- Nebraska and Kansas populations as south- sity of Minnesota, Minneapolis. Sabath, M , and R Worthington 19.59. Eggs and young ern, however, is inappropriate and results in of certain Te.xas reptiles. Herpetologica 15: 31-34. an unnaturally large mean. Earlier studies Smith, H M., and J A Sl.\ter. 1949. The southern races suggesting that Nebraska populations of E. oi Eumeces septentrionalis (BAird). Trans. Kansas septentrionalis have larger clutch sizes than Acad. Sci. .52: 438-448. Sokal, R. R , AND F J ROHLF 1981. Biometry. W. H. others to the northern and southern ends oi its Freeman and Co., San Francisco. range (Gehlbach and Collette 1959, Iverson SoMMA, L A 1985a. Brooding beha\ior of the northern 1976) are supported by this study. Mean prairie skink, Eumeces septentrionalis septentri- onalis (Baird), and its relationship to the h\dric clutch sizes in these previous studies, how- en\ironment of the nest substrate. Unpublished ever, could have been exaggerated by the thesis. University of Nebraska at Omaha. limited sample sizes. Larger samples ob- 1985b. Notes on maternal behavior and post-brood- tained from other populations throughout this ing aggression in the prairie skink, Eumeces septentri- onalis. Nebraska Herpetol. Newsl. 6: 9-12. species range, along with corresponding SVL Vogt, R C 1981. Natural history of amphibians and rep- data, would greatly facilitate comparisons of tiles in Wisconsin. Milwaukee Public Museum, reproductive data. Milwaukee..
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