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First Record of Tail Bifurcation and Hindlimb Malformation In Herpetology Notes, volume 14: 341-343 (2021) (published online on 14 February 2021) First record of tail bifurcation and hindlimb malformation in Gonatodes humeralis (Guichenot, 1855) (Squamata, Gekkonidae) from the Amazonian region of northern Brazil Jessica Stefany Costa Anaissi1,* and Carlos Eduardo Costa-Campos1 Malformations in lizards are quite common and trees at heights ranging from 30 to 150 cm and diameter typically consist of tail bifurcation (Passos et al., 2016; ranging from 20 to 98 cm. One of these lizards presented Kolenda et al., 2017; Sales and Freire, 2019), frequently tail bifurcation and hindlimb malformation. developed during the regeneration process that follows On 10 September 2019, around 11:00 h, we observed autotomy. However other malformations, such as a male of G. humeralis (38.5 mm SVL) with tail limbs and digits malformations are more uncommon bifurcation on a tree trunk about 50 cm above the (Gkourtsouli-Antoniadou et al., 2017; Itescu et al., 2017; ground. The bifurcation began 9.6 mm after the cloaca; Kolenda et al., 2017; Sanches et al., 2017; Christopoulos the left tail branch (12.1 mm) had about 1.6 times the and Pafilis, 2020). Malformations can include the partial length of the left branch (7.6 mm; Fig. 1). The left foot (ectromelia) or total (amelia) limbs loss, or an increase missed the third digit and distal portion of fourth digit (polydactyly) or decrease (ectrodactyly) in the number and did not show any healing marks, which suggests a of digits (Henle et al., 2017). case of ectrodactyly. The individual was healthy and the Gonatodes humeralis (Guichenot, 1855) is a small limb malformation did not reduce the lizard’s mobility. (males 30.2–41.2 mm snout-vent length [SVL]; The G. humeralis described herein has been deposited in females 24.3–40.2 mm SVL), diurnal sphaerodactylid the Herpetology Collection of the Universidade Federal gecko, common in a large part of the Amazonian do Amapá (voucher CECC 3520). region, occupying the interior and edges of primary In geckos and other lizards the use of caudal autotomy and secondary forests (Vitt et al., 2000; Oda, 2008). is a widespread strategy to avoid predation; moreover, This species exhibited sexual dimorphism, with cryptic caudal autotomy can also be a result of intraspecific colouration in females and males with colourful patterns. aggression, competition and could be a tactic to avoid It is typically found on tree trunks up to 1.5 m above the cannibalism (Sales et al., 2011; Domínguez-López et al., ground, but also occurs on the leaf litter and higher up 2015). Bifurcation of tail is an abnormal phenomenon on trees (Ávila-Pires, 1995; Ávila-Pires et al., 2012). not rare and recorded among different lizard families, Here, we report a case of tail bifurcation and limb including Gekkonidae (Bauer et al., 2009; Kumbar et abnormalities in G. humeralis. al., 2011; Andrade et al., 2015; Heyborne and Mahan, In the context of a research on the natural history of G. 2017; Vinalay-García, 2017; Gogoi et al., 2018; Marjan humeralis conducted in 2019 in a forest fragment on an and Al-Razi, 2018). urban area in the Municipality of Macapá, Amapá State, On the other hand, limb abnormalities are rare and northern Brazil (0.0063°S, 51.0826°W), we captured regarded as having environmental or genetic origin 99 individuals (46 males and 53 females) perched on (Rothschild et al., 2012). Although rare, the rising number of reported cases (Kolenda et al., 2017; Sanches et al., 2017) can indicate that such events are increasing, or could equally reflect greater effort by researchers ¹ Laboratório de Herpetologia, Departamento de Ciências irrespective of the actual incidence rate. Biológicas e da Saúde, Universidade Federal do Amapá, The presence of one case of tail bifurcation and missing Campus Marco Zero do Equador, 68903-419, Macapá, limbs within the population of G. humeralis corresponds Amapá, Brazil. to a frequency of occurrence of 1%, suggesting that * Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected] such abnormalities are normally rather low in lizard © 2021 by Herpetology Notes. Open Access by CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. populations. This is the first record of tail bifurcation 342 Jessica Stefany Costa Anaissi & Carlos Eduardo Costa-Campos Figure 1. (A) Gonatodes humeralis (male individual, CECC 3520) with tail bifurcation and hindlimb malformation; (B) Tail bifurcation and Hind limb detail, dorsal view. Photo Jéssica Anaissi. and hindlimb malformation for G. humeralis from the Gkourtsouli-Antoniadou, I., Deimezis-Tsikoutas, A., Vassaki, K., Amazonian region of northern Brazil. Vezyrakis, A., Pafilis, P. (2017): A tail where it shouldn’t be: a morphological anomaly in Podarcis erhardii. Herpetology Notes 10: 233–234. Acknowledgements. We are grateful Raul Sales for providing Gogoi, M., Kundu, S., Goswami, J., Saikia, D., Pandey, N. pre-peer review and helpful comments on the manuscript; (2018): First record of tail bifurcation in Tokey Gecko (Gekko Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade – ICMBio (SISBIO #48102-2) for the license granted. This work gecko) from the Kaziranga, Assam, India: a field observation. is part of the project “Natural history of amphibians and reptiles International Journal of Experimental Research and Review 15: of Eastern Amazon”. 5–8. Heyborne, W.H., Mahan, A. (2017): Natural History Notes. Hemidactylus frenatus (Common House Gecko). Tail References bifurcation. Herpetological Review 48: 437–438. Andrade, M.J.M., Lopes, J.R.I., De Sales, R.F.D., Freire, E.M.X. Henle, K., Dubois, A., Vershinin, V. (2017): A review of anomalies (2015): Hemidactylus agrius (Country leaf–toed gecko): in natural populations of amphibians and their potential causes. Polydactyly and tail bifurcation. Herpetological Bulletin 131: Mertensiella 25: 57–164. 28–29. Itescu, Y., Lewin, A., Slavenko, A., Meiri, S., Pafilis, P. (2017): Ávila-Pires, T.C.S. (1995): Lizards of Brazilian Amazonia (Reptilia: Podarcis erhardii (Erhard’s Wall Lizard) Extreme morphology. Squamata). Zoologische Verhandelingen Leiden 299: 1–706. Herpetological Review 48: 199–200. Ávila-Pires, T.C.S., Macedo, L.C., Costa, P.A.F.B., Hoogmoed, Kolenda, K., Wieczorek, M., Najbar, A., Najbar, B., & Skawiński, M.S. (2012): Gonatodes humeralis (Guichenot, 1855) T. (2017): Limb malformation and tail bifurcation in sand lizards (Squamata: Sphaerodactylidae): Behavior. Herpetologia (Lacerta agilis) and common lizards (Zootoca vivipara) from Brasileira 1: 111–112. Poland. Herpetology Notes 10: 713–716. Bauer, A.M., Hathaway, S.A., Fisher, R.N. (2009): Polydactyly Kumbar, S.M., Ghadage, A.B., Shndage, V.M. (2011): Hemidactylus in the Central Pacific Gecko, Lepidodactylus sp. (Squamata: flaviviridis (House Gecko) Bifurcation. Herpetological Review Gekkonidae). Herpetology Notes 2: 243–246. 42: 94. Christopoulos, A., Pafilis, P. (2020): Hindlimb malformation in Marjan, M., Al-Razi, H. (2018): Observation of tail bifurcation in a widely distributed skink, Chalcides ocellatus. Herpetology Hemidactylus frenatus (Schlegel, 1836). Herpetology Notes 11: Notes 13: 15–17. 953–954. Domínguez-López, M.E., Ortega-león, A.M., Zamora-abrego, Oda, W.Y. (2008): Microhabitat utilization and population density G.J. (2015): Tail autotomy effects on the escape behavior of the of the lizard Gonatodes humeralis (Guichenot, 1855) (Reptilia: lizard Gonatodes albogularis (Squamata: Sphaerodactylidae), Squamata: Gekkonidae) in forest areas in Manaus, Amazon, from Córdoba, Colômbia. Revista Chilena de Historia Natural Brazil. Boletim do Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi, Ciências 88: 1–6. Naturais 3: 165–177. First record of tail bifurcation and hindlimb malformation in Gonatodes humeralis 343 Passos, D.C., Fonseca, P.H.M., Romo de Vivar, P.R., Kanayama, C.Y., Teixeira, V.P.A., Martinelli, A.G. (2016): Tail trifurcation in the lizard Salvator merianae (Squamata: Teiidae) investigated by computer tomography. Phyllomedusa 15: 79–83. Rothschild, B.M., Schultze, H.P., Pellegrini, R. (2012): Herpetological osteopathology. Annotated bibliography of amphibians and reptiles. New York, USA, Springer. Sales, R.F.D., Jorge, J.S., Ribeiro, L.B., Freire, E.M.X. (2011): A case of cannibalism in the territorial lizard Tropidurus hispidus (Squamata: Tropiduridae) in Northeast Brazil. Herpetology Notes 4: 265–267. Sales, R.F.D., Freire, E.M.X. (2019): Ameivula ocellifera (Spix’s Whiptail). Tail bifurcation. Herpetological Review 50: 780. Sanches, P.R., Santos, F.P., Costa-Campos, C.E. (2017): Ectrodactyly of the exotic lizard Hemidactylus mabouia (Gekkonidae) in an urban area of northern Brazil, eastern Amazon. Boletín de la Asociación Herpetológica Española 28: 11–12. Vinalay-García, A. (2017): Hemidactylus frenatus (Duméril & Bibron, 1836). Tail bifurcation. Mesoamerican Herpetology 3: 635–637. Vitt, L.J., Souza, R.A., Sartorius, S.S., Ávila-Pires, T.C.S., Esposito, M.C. (2000): Comparative ecology of sympatric Gonatodes (Squamata: Gekkonidae) in the Western Amazon of Brazil. Copeia 2000: 83–95. Accepted by Mirco Solé.
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