8/16/2019 Andrade Et Al 2015 - H. Agrius_Polydactyly and Tail Bifurcation

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8/16/2019 Andrade Et Al 2015 - H. Agrius_Polydactyly and Tail Bifurcation

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Herpetological Bulletin 131 (2015) 29

Hemidactylus agrius: Polydactyly and tail bifurcation

specimen, a second record of tail bifurcation was observed inthe eld, but the lizard escaped the capture; in this instancethe additional tail had developed in the individual’s bodylateral plane and was similar in size to the main tail.

The presence of a polydactyly in the H. agrius population

of ESEC Seridó corresponds to a frequency of occurrence of1.6%, a high estimate when compared to the rates reported in

the literature for other lizards, for example, 0.5% in  Lacertaschreiberi (Megia, 2012) and 0.6% in Tropidurus etheridgei (Pelegrin, 2007). Similar cases have been recorded for otherlizards including Podarcis muralis  (Lazić & Crnobrnja-Isailović, 2012) and  Liolaemus petrophilus  (Minoli et al.,2009).

  The presence of two cases of tail bifurcation withinthe population of  H. agrius  of ESEC Seridó correspondsto a frequency of occurrence of 3.1%, suggesting this typeof morphological change is relatively common in lizard

populations. The injuries resulted in lateral and medialbifurcations to the body and represent additions to the two

types of bifurcations described in the literature (McKelvy &Stark, 2012). This is the rst record of polydactyly and tailbifurcation for H. agrius.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We thank L. Anjos and M. Pichorim for helpful commentson a rst draft of the manuscript, and the staff of EcologicalStation of the Seridó logistical support on the eld activities.This study was supported by research grants from theCoordernação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de NívelSuperior (CAPES) to MJMA, and from the Conselho Nacional

de Desenvolvimento Cientíco e Tecnológico (CNPq) toEMXF (process 304077/200819). The permit for collectingthe lizards was granted by ICMBio/Sisbio (Permit 36189-1).

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 Accepted: 10 February 2015