Reproduction
The reproductive history of Emoia
cyanura is somewhat unclear still at this point in time
with only general information about sexual maturity being
readily available. Various research articles discussed the fact that
many lizards, also known as skinks, reproductive biology is not
well known especially those found in tropical areas.
However, research shows that male E. cyanura have a snout-vent
length, which is a standard measurement of body length from the
tip of the nose to the anus, of 23-58 millimeters (Schwaner
1980). Individual males that were less than 35mm appear to
have small testes with no definite convolutions, or vasculation
in comparison to those individuals with enlarged testes that
were found to be between 38-50mm (Schwaner 1980). It is
concluded from these observations and research that the male
skinks of this species reach sexual maturity at a snout-vent
length between 38-40mm (Zug 1991). Female E. cyanura have
a snout-vent length of 22-56mm, and are believed to reach sexual
maturity around 40mm with a body weight normally over 1.5gms
which happens to be the same weight for sexually mature males
(Schwaner 1980). Sexually mature females have around 3-4
sets of ovarian follicles, whic
h
is where ovum develop, (Zug 1991) and almost always have one egg
in each oviduct. It should be noted that from most of the
research done so far it appears that there is no relationship
between vent-snout length and the clutch size. As for the
eggs that are laid they have an average diameter of 9.5-13.5mm,
and bulge in size during incubation especially width wise
(Schwaner 1980). The eggs are normally laid in a common
nesting area with an average of 6-10 eggs in a clutch, a common
occurance in reptila such as
snakes, and have an
incubation period of 40-51 days (Zug 1991). The only
information present for after the hatching is that the juveniles
have the same color pattern as adults, and average a snout-vent
length of 22mm (Schwaner 1980).
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