EGG SIZE AND EGG SHAPE IN NEAR-EASTERN GEKKONID LIZARDS

ABSTRACT

Gekkoninae, laying rigid, precisely mensurable eggs in invariable clutches, served to examine the relations between egg shape, egg size and mother size, at intra—and interspecific levels. Ellipticity (ratio width/length) and volume were calculated from linear measurements of 82 eggs obtained in captivity from geckos of eleven Near-Eastern taxa. Clutch volume, apportioned to one or two eggs, was interspecifically correlated to maternal length. Eggs varied in size, intra—and interspecifically, generally retaining near-uniform ellipticity but some exceedingly large eggs were more elongate. In Ptyodactylus hasselquistii guttatus the eggs, flexible when laid, are pushed by the mother into near-spherical shape; hatchling length is correlated to egg diameter. Gecko clutches constitute as much mass, relative to maternal mass, as in many other lizard groups.