Notes on Reproduction and Variation in the Blue-tailed Lizard, Eumeces elegans (Reptilia: Scincidae), on Kita-kojima Island of the Senkaku Group, Ryukyu Archipelago

Abstract

A field survey was carried out for a population of Eumeces elegans on Kita-kojima Island of the Senkaku Group, Ryukyu Archipelago. Data for several reproductive parameters, such as clutch size, egg size, hatchling size, and hatching date, are provided for the first time for the Japanese populations of this species. Variations in midbody scale rows and hatchling coloration between the Senkaku populations and the Taiwanese and continental populations are clarified and their geohistorical significance is discussed briefly. © 2004, The Herpetological Society of Japan. All rights reserved.