автотомия

Anoles (Anolis Daudin, 1802) are a large genus of recent Neotropical lizards characterized by high morphological diversity, rapid microevolutionary processes, and disappearance of the autotomy plane in the distal caudal vertebrae during ontogeny. Tail radiographs of 15 species of anoles from the herpetological collection of the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences (St. Petersburg) were examined to reveal autotomy in the tail regions where the autotomy planes were lost. In two species, namely, A.

The tail regeneration frequency in 55 lizards from the Volgograd region was analyzed, among which were 12 steppe-runners (Eremias arguta (Pallas, 1773)) and 43 sand lizards (Lacerta agilis Linnaeus, 1758). The following cases of tail regenerates were observed: 0) a normal tail; 1) regeneration in the distal third; 2) a tail regenerated from the middle part; and 3) autotomy near the base (the proximal third). The majority of the lizards had normal tails (60.0% of E. arguta and 83.2/57.1% of L. agilis in females/males).

The paper presents data on the findings of three Danilewski’s gecko (Mediodactylus danilewskii) individuals with bifurcations of their regenerated tails in the Karadag Reserve (the southeastern Crimea). Possible causes of such an abnormality are discussed.