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HERPETOZOA 28 (1/2) Wien, 30. Juli 2015
and Jefferson Silva. William Magnusson provided corrections to the text. Caimans were captured under
license number 138/2011-IBAMA.
REFERENCES: AuST, P. &, BOylE, A. &,
FERguSON, R. & COulSON, T. (2009):. The impact the
Nile Crocodiles on rural livelihoods in northeastern
Namibia.- South African Journal of Wildlife Research,
Durban; 39 (1): 57-69. BAlAguERA-REINA, S. A.
(2012):. Attacks and human-crocodile conflict in local
communities in Colombia.- IuCN Crocodile Specialist
group Newsletter, gainesville; 31 (2): 12-13. BAylEy,
P. B. & PETRERE, M. Jr. (1989):. Amazon fisheries:
assessment methods, current status and management
options.- Canadian Special Publication of Fisheries and
Aquatic Sciences, Ottawa; 106: 385-398. BARTHEM, R.
B. (1987):. uso de redes de espera no estudo de ritmos
circadianos de algumas espécies de peixes nos lagos de
várzea do rio Solimões.- Revista Brasileira de
Zoologia, Curitiba; 3: 409-422. DA SIlvEIRA, R. &
THORBJARNARSON, J. B. (1999):. Conservation implications of commercial hunting of Black and Spectacled
Caiman in the Mamirauá Sustainable Development
Reserve, Brazil.- Biological Conservation, Barking; 88
(1): 103-109. FRANk, l. (2006):. living with lions:
laikipia predator Project. kilimanjaro. lion Conservation Project. January 2005 - June 2006.- Annual
Report / Museum of vertebrate Zoology, Berkeley; pp.
1-15. HADDAD, Jr. v. & FONSECA, W. C. (2011):. A
fatal attack on a child by a Black Caiman ( Melano­suchus­niger).- Wilderness & Environmental Medicine,
New york; 22 (1): 62-64. MEDEM, F. (1983):. los
Crocodylia de Sur America. volume II. Bogota
(Colciencias, universidad Nacional de Colombia), pp.
259. PACkER, C. &, IkANDA, D. &, kISSuI, B. &
kuSHNIR, H. (2005):. lion attackes on humans in
Tanzania.- Nature, london; 436 (7053): 927-928.
REBêlO, g. H. & MAgNuSSON, W. E. (1983):. An analysis of the effect of hunting on Caiman­crocodilus­and
Melanosuchus­niger­based on the sizes of confiscated
skins.- Biological Conservation, Barking; 26 (2): 95104. THORBJARNARSON, J. B. & MCINTOSH, P. E.
(1987):. Notes on a large Melanosuchus­ niger skull
from Bolivia.- Herpetological Review, New york; 18:
49-50. TREvES, A. & NAugHTON-TREvES, l. (1999):.
Risk and opportunity for humans coexisting with large
carnivores.- Journal of Human Evolution, Oxford; 36:
275-282. WAllACE, k. M. &, lESlIE, A. J. & COulSON, T. (2011): living with predators: a focus on the
issues of human-crocodile conflict within the lower
Zambezi vallery.- Wildlife Research, Collingwood; 38
(8): 747-755. WEBB, g. J. W. &, MANOlIS, S. C. &
BRIEN, M. l. (2010):. Saltwater Crocodile Crocodylus
porosus;. Pppp. 99-113. in In: MANOlIS, S. C. &
STEvENSON, C. (Eds.): Crocodiles. Status Survey and
Conservation Action Plan. Third Edition.,ed. by
Darwin (S.C. Manolis and C. Stevenson. Crocodile
Specialist group): Darwin. WHITAkER, N. (2008):
Survey of human/crocodile conflict in the union Territory of the Andaman Islands, Hut Bay, little Andaman,
January 2008. WWW document available at < http://
www.iucncsg.org/365_docs/attachments/protarea/Whitf1a1ce2f.pdf > [last accessed: November 7, 2014].
kEy WORDS: Reptilia: Crocodylia; Alligatoridae; Caiman­ yacare, Melanosuchus­ niger,­ Paleo­suchus­palpebrosus, Paleosuchus­trigonatus, crocodilians, size, conflicts, interaction with men, threats,
dams, conservation, Amazon, Brazil
SHORT NOTE
SuBMITTED: February 12, 2014
AuTHOR: Zilca CAMPOS < zilca.campos@
embrapa.br > – Embrapa Pantanal, CP 109, Corumbá,
MS 79320-900, Brazil.
A remarkable age and size record
of a male Jewelled lizard,
Timon­lepidus (DAuDIN, 1802)
Six years ago, the authors reported on
the (preliminary) record age of a Jewelled
lizard, Timon­lepidus (DAuDIN, 1802), in the
herpetocultural facility of the Zoologisches
Forschungsmuseum Alexander koenig
(ZFMk), Bonn, germany (ESSER & BöHME
2009). This specimen, a male originating
from near Cadiz, southern Andalusia, Spain,
was received in 1986 as an adult whose age
was judged of at least four years. After 24
years of captive maintenance, at an age of
ca. 28 years, this male had become the
ancestor of a successful breeding group.
However, in 2002 the big old male showed
first signs of senility, for example, one eye
became blind.
A literature review had shown that the
normal maximum age of Timon­lepidus was
between 11 and 17 years (DECAux 1897,
FlOWER 1925, SlAvENS & SlAvENS 1993,
CHEylAN & gRIllET 2004). lEEPER (1951)
gave even 20 years as the possible maximum age but this information was challenged by MERTENS (1975: „ohne freilich
präzise Angaben zu machen“ = „without
providing precise data“) and BISCHOFF et al.
(1984: „soll erreicht worden sein“ = claimed
to have been reached). All these data refer
to captive specimens. In contrast, according
to skeletochronological results (CASTIllA &
CASTANET 1986), the life span of T.­lepidus
in the wild rarely exceeds five years. In this
study, six years were reached by only 8 % of
the females and 17 % of the males. According to these authors, the documented maximum age of free-ranging Jewelled lizards
was 11 years.
As mentioned above, the male described here showed the first age-dependent
handicaps when it was twenty years old.
But its unilateral blindness did not hinder it
to copulate with the two females sharing its
terrarium (one of them being only few years
younger) and continue to produce offspring.
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HERPETOZOA 28 (1/2) Wien, 30. Juli 2015
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105
Even in 2007 a clutch of fertilized eggs was
laid, and all eggs were successfully incubated. In total, nearly 40 juveniles originated
from these matings between 2001 and 2009.
After the hibernation of 2007/08, the second
eye of the old male started to grow blind,
and food uptake became more difficult.
Henceforth, the lizard was kept separately
to better control its well-being.
After six years, at the end of hibernation of 2014/15, the health state of this lizard became so bad it had to be euthanized.
After 30 years of captive maintenance at
ZFMk’s herpetocultural facility (“Tierhaus“), this particular lizard was finally preserved and cataloged under ZFMk 96786
(Fig. 1). Since these lizards continue to grow
throughout life (though more and more
retarded after sexual maturity and with
increasing age: see BISCHOFF et al. 1984) it
also achieved an unusual size. Measurements documented a snout-vent length
(Svl) of 232 mm, a head length of 77.2
mm, and a pileus length of 68.9 mm.
Since Timon­ lepidus is – apart from
the legless anguid Pseudopus­apodus (PAllAS, 1775) – the largest lizard species in
Europe, its total length is often exaggerated
in the literature (see BISCHOFF et al. and references cited therein). Documented maximum Svl values for males are: 210 mm
(BOulENgER 1920: Nizza, South France), 216
mm (PETERS 1962, Banyuls-sur-mer, South
France), 229 mm (BuSACk 1987: southern
Spain) and 235 mm (JOgER in BISCHOFF et al.
1984: Type specimen of Lacerta­senegalensis
gRAy, 1838, a synonym of T.­lepidus, not of
T.­nevadensis, T.­tangitanus or T.­pater, thus
with unknown locality but certainly not from
Senegal). This last-named specimen at the
British Museum (BM 1946.9.2.17) was considered the biggest representative of its
species by BISCHOFF et al. (1984), but
CASTIllA (1989) in her unpublished PhD
thesis (cited in SAlvADOR 1998) gave a maximum value of even 260 mm Svl. It is not
clear whether this size record was taken
from a particular specimen that could be reexamined. SAlvADOR (1998) himself gave
____________________________
Fig. 1: ZFMk 96786, the 35 year-old male
Timon­lepidus­(DAuDIN, 1802),
from near Cadiz, Spain. Photo: P. gEISSlER.
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only 172 mm Svl as the maximum value of
the samples studied by him. In any case, the
present extremely old male of nearly 35
years represents also one of the biggest T.
lepidus ever measured.
REFERENCES: BISCHOFF, W. & CHEylAN, M.
& BöHME, W. (1984): Lacerta­lepida DAuDIN, 1802 –
Perleidechse; pp. 181-210. In: BöHME, W. (Ed.):
Handbuch der Reptilien und Amphibien Europas, vol.
2/I, Echsen II (Lacerta). Wiesbaden (AulA). BOulENgER, g. A. (1920): Monograph of the lacertidae,
vol. 1. london (Trustees of the British Museum), pp. x,
352. BuSACk, S. D. (1987): Morphological and biochemical differentiation in Spanish and Moroccan populations of the lizard, Lacerta­ lepida.- Journal of
Herpetology, Houston, etc.; 21 (4): 277-284. CASTIllA,
A. M. & CASTANET, J. (1986): growth, age and longevity of Lacerta­lepida assessed by skeletochronography;
pp. 331-335. In: ROčEk, Z. (Ed.): Studies in Herpetology. Prague (SEH), pp. 754. CHEylAN, M. &
gRIllET, P. (2004): le lézard ocellé. Paris (Belin Éveil
nature), pp. 95. DECAux, C. (1897): un lézard ocellé
conservé en captivité depuis quatorze ans.- la Nature,
Paris; 1255: 43-44. ESSER, S. & BöHME, W. (2009):
(vorläufiger) Altersrekord einer Perleidechse, Timon
lepidus (DAuDIN, 1802), im Tierhaus des Zoologischen
Forschungsmuseums Alexander koenig in Bonn.Elaphe, Rheinbach; 17 (4): 44-47. FlOWER, S. S.
(1925): Contribution to our knowledge of the duration
of life in vertebrate animals. III. Reptiles.- Proceedings
of the Zoological Society, london, 95: 911-981.
lEEPER, F. (1953): Nogmaals de onderdom van reptielen en amfibien.- lacerta, s’gravenhage; 11: 55-56.
MERTENS, R. (1970): Über die lebensdauer einiger
Amphibien und Reptilien in gefangenschaft.- Zoologischer garten, leipzig; 39 (1/6): 193-209. PETERS,
g. (1962): Ein Beitrag zur ökologie der Perleidechse
(Lacerta­ l.­ lepida DAuDIN).- Mitteilungen des Zoologischen Museums Berlin, Berlin; 38: 401-414.
SAlvADOR, A. (1998): Fauna Iberica, vol. 10 (Reptiles).
Madrid (MNCN), pp. 709. SlAvENS, F. l. & SlAvENS,
k. (1993): Reptiles and amphibians in captivity.
Breeding, longevity and inventory. Current January 1,
1993. Seattle (Slaveware), pp. 521.
kEy WORDS: Reptilia: Squamata: lacertidae:
Timon­lepidus; longevity, maximum dimensions, Spain
SuBMITTED: March 26, 2015
AuTHORS: Wolfgang BöHME (Corresponding
author < [email protected] >); Sascha ESSER –
Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander koenig,
Adenauerallee 160, D-53113 Bonn, germany.
SHORT NOTE
er vertebrates. Particularly, individual color
variation is a main subject for research in
areas as diverse as ecology, ethology, physiology, evolutionary biology or ecotoxicology (e.g., FuJII et al. 1989; CAMARgO et al.
1999; MARTIN & FORSMAN 1999; CHAPlEN
et al. 2002; FRENTIu et al. 2007; HEFlIN et
al. 2009; lóPEZ et al. 2009; SkölD et al.
2012). In vertebrates, skin color is mostly
determined by the disposition of chromatophores, specialized dermal cells (MIllS &
PATTERSON 2009). In some species, coloration can change at the individual level,
with these changes classified as either morphological or physiological (BAgNARA
1976). The former is a slow process associated with variations of pigment content in
the integument. The latter is a much faster
(from minutes to hours) process based on
intracellular movement of the organelles
containing the pigments. Physiological
color changes may be caused by a multitude
of internal and external factors (SkölD et al.
2012), but the cytological mechanisms
involved are still unclear (BAgNARA 2005).
Bluish coloration is common among
vertebrates, in spite of the generalized
absence of blue pigments, with only a few
Spain
Rapid color change to blue in
metamorphic Discoglossus­scovazzi
(CAMERANO, 1878)
The presence of brilliant colors such
as the primary colors red, yellow and blue
has been widely studied and documented
among animals, from invertebrates to high-
Fig. 1: Map showing the locations in Morocco
where the metamorphic, rapidly color-changing
Discoglossus­scovazzi (CAMERANO, 1878) were found.
Cap Spartel (circle), Oued laou (solid square) and
Derdara (open square).