Reproductive biology of thesouthern Brazilianpitviper Bothrops neuwiedi pubescens (Serpentes, Viperidae) Marília T. Hartmann 1,OtavioA.V .Marques 2,SelmaM. Almeida-Santos 2 1 Departamento deZoologia,Instituto de Biociê ncias, Caixa Postal199, UNESP ,13506-900Rio Claro, Sã o Paulo,Brasil e-mail:
[email protected] 2 Laboratório de Herpetologia, Instituto Butantan, A v.Vital Brazil 1500,05535-900, Sã o Paulo,SP ,Brasil e-mail:
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[email protected] Abstract. Dissectionof 286 specimens ofthe Bothropsneuwiedi pubescens ,combinedwith data oncaptive individuals,provided information on the reproductive biology of this viperid snake from southern Brazil. Females attainedlarger bodysizes thanmales, andreproduction was seasonal withmating taking place in autumnwhen males were more frequentlyencountered. Vitellogenesis occurred from summer tospring (January- September),sperm storageduring autumn and winter (May-September), ovulation and fertilization in early spring (September),embryonic development during middle spring and summer (October-March),and parturition in the summer (January-March).Embryonic development was estimated tolast fromthree to vemonths, a shortertime thanwas previouslyreported. The number of offspringof Bothropsneuwiedi pubescens bornin one litter can varyfrom four to 25 ( x 11/.Fecundityis correlated withmaternal bodysize. Neonates measure 17-25cm SVL.Inferred growth rate ofjuveniles was low(10 mm/ monthin rst year), withmales attainingsexual maturity at about16 months, but maturity is delayedin females forat least twoadditional years. Introduction Thepitvipers of thegenus Bothrops are widelydistributed in Central and South America (Campbelland Lamar, 1989). Reproductive data are availablefor onlya few ofthe morethan 20 species occurring in Brazil, such as Bothropsjararaca (Sazima,1992; Janeiro-Cinquiniet al., 1993; Almeida-Santos and Orsi, 2002), B. moojeni (Leloup,1975), B.