Facultative Oviparity in a Viviparous Skink ( Saiphos Equalis)

Overview

Journal Biol Lett

Specialty Biology

Date 2019 Apr 4

PMID 30940025

Citations 5

Authors

Melanie K Laird

Michael B Thompson

Camilla M Whittington

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Facultative changes in parity mode (oviparity to viviparity and vice versa) are rare in vertebrates, yet offer fascinating opportunities to investigate the role of reproductive lability in parity mode evolution. Here, we report apparent facultative oviparity by a viviparous female of the bimodally reproductive skink Saiphos equalis-the first report of different parity modes within a vertebrate clutch. Eggs oviposited facultatively possess shell characteristics of both viviparous and oviparous S. equalis, demonstrating that egg coverings for viviparous embryos are produced by the same machinery as those for oviparous individuals. Since selection may act in either direction when viviparity has evolved recently, squamate reproductive lability may confer a selective advantage. We suggest that facultative oviparity is a viable reproductive strategy for S. equalis and that squamate reproductive lability is more evolutionarily significant than previously acknowledged.

Citing Articles

Endogenous Retroviruses and Placental Evolution, Development, and Diversity.

Imakawa K, Kusama K, Kaneko-Ishino T, Nakagawa S, Kitao K, Miyazawa T Cells. 2022; 11(15).

PMID: 35954303 PMC: 9367772. DOI: 10.3390/cells11152458.

Ecological and life-history correlates of erythrocyte size and shape in Lepidosauria.

Penman Z, Deeming D, Soulsbury C J Evol Biol. 2022; 35(5):708-718.

PMID: 35384114 PMC: 9322653. DOI: 10.1111/jeb.14004.

Understanding the evolution of viviparity using intraspecific variation in reproductive mode and transitional forms of pregnancy.

Whittington C, Van Dyke J, Liang S, Edwards S, Shine R, Thompson M Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc. 2022; 97(3):1179-1192.

PMID: 35098647 PMC: 9064913. DOI: 10.1111/brv.12836.

A comparison of uterine contractile responsiveness to arginine vasopressin in oviparous and viviparous lizards.

Paul J, Kemsley J, Butler T, Tolosa J, Thompson M, Smith R J Comp Physiol B. 2019; 190(1):49-62.

PMID: 31858229 DOI: 10.1007/s00360-019-01254-4.

Facultative oviparity in a viviparous skink ( Saiphos equalis).

Laird M, Thompson M, Whittington C Biol Lett. 2019; 15(4):20180827.

PMID: 30940025 PMC: 6501355. DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2018.0827.

References

Lynch V, Wagner G . Did egg-laying boas break Dollo's law? Phylogenetic evidence for reversal to oviparity in sand boas (Eryx: Boidae). Evolution. 2009; 64(1):207-16. DOI: 10.1111/j.1558-5646.2009.00790.x. View

Pyron R, Burbrink F . Early origin of viviparity and multiple reversions to oviparity in squamate reptiles. Ecol Lett. 2013; 17(1):13-21. DOI: 10.1111/ele.12168. View

Recknagel H, Kamenos N, Elmer K . Common lizards break Dollo's law of irreversibility: Genome-wide phylogenomics support a single origin of viviparity and re-evolution of oviparity. Mol Phylogenet Evol. 2018; 127:579-588. DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2018.05.029. View

Blackburn D . Evolution of vertebrate viviparity and specializations for fetal nutrition: A quantitative and qualitative analysis. J Morphol. 2014; 276(8):961-90. DOI: 10.1002/jmor.20272. View

Whittington C, Grau G, Murphy C, Thompson M . Unusual angiogenic factor plays a role in lizard pregnancy but is not unique to viviparity. J Exp Zool B Mol Dev Evol. 2015; 324(2):152-8. DOI: 10.1002/jez.b.22615. View

Olsson M, Loeb L, Lindsay W, Wapstra E, Fitzpatrick L, Shine R . Extreme plasticity in reproductive biology of an oviparous lizard. Ecol Evol. 2018; 8(13):6384-6389. PMC: 6053574. DOI: 10.1002/ece3.4247. View

Mathies T . Determinants of embryonic stage at oviposition in the lizard Urosaurus ornatus. Physiol Biochem Zool. 1999; 72(6):645-55. DOI: 10.1086/316707. View

Qualls C . Influence of the evolution of viviparity on eggshell morphology in the lizard Lerista bougainvillii. J Morphol. 2018; 228(2):119-125. DOI: 10.1002/(SICI)1097-4687(199605)228:2<119::AID-JMOR1>3.0.CO;2-0. View

Blackburn D . Saltationist and punctuated equilibrium models for the evolution of viviparity and placentation. J Theor Biol. 1995; 174(2):199-216. DOI: 10.1006/jtbi.1995.0092. View

10.

Heulin B, Stewart J, Surget-Groba Y, Bellaud P, Jouan F, Lancien G . Development of the uterine shell glands during the preovulatory and early gestation periods in oviparous and viviparous Lacerta vivipara. J Morphol. 2005; 266(1):80-93. DOI: 10.1002/jmor.10368. View

11.

Laird M, Thompson M, Whittington C . Facultative oviparity in a viviparous skink ( Saiphos equalis). Biol Lett. 2019; 15(4):20180827. PMC: 6501355. DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2018.0827. View

12.

Stewart J, Mathieson A, Ecay T, Herbert J, Parker S, Thompson M . Uterine and eggshell structure and histochemistry in a lizard with prolonged uterine egg retention (Lacertilia, Scincidae, Saiphos). J Morphol. 2010; 271(11):1342-51. DOI: 10.1002/jmor.10877. View

13.

Blackburn D . Structure, function, and evolution of the oviducts of squamate reptiles, with special reference to viviparity and placentation. J Exp Zool. 1998; 282(4-5):560-617. View

14.

Lee M, Shine R . REPTILIAN VIVIPARITY AND DOLLO'S LAW. Evolution. 2017; 52(5):1441-1450. DOI: 10.1111/j.1558-5646.1998.tb02025.x. View

15.

Blackburn D . Evolution of viviparity in squamate reptiles: Reversibility reconsidered. J Exp Zool B Mol Dev Evol. 2015; 324(6):473-86. DOI: 10.1002/jez.b.22625. View

16.

Linville B, Stewart J, Ecay T, Herbert J, Parker S, Thompson M . Placental calcium provision in a lizard with prolonged oviductal egg retention. J Comp Physiol B. 2009; 180(2):221-7. DOI: 10.1007/s00360-009-0400-2. View

17.

Heulin B, Ghielmi S, Vogrin N, Surget-Groba Y, Guillaume C . Variation in eggshell characteristics and in intrauterine egg retention between two oviparous clades of the lizard Lacerta vivipara: insight into the oviparity-viviparity continuum in squamates. J Morphol. 2002; 252(3):255-62. DOI: 10.1002/jmor.1103. View

18.

Esquerre D, Brennan I, Catullo R, Torres-Perez F, Keogh J . How mountains shape biodiversity: The role of the Andes in biogeography, diversification, and reproductive biology in South America's most species-rich lizard radiation (Squamata: Liolaemidae). Evolution. 2018; 73(2):214-230. DOI: 10.1111/evo.13657. View

19.

Griffith O, Blackburn D, Brandley M, Van Dyke J, Whittington C, Thompson M . Ancestral state reconstructions require biological evidence to test evolutionary hypotheses: A case study examining the evolution of reproductive mode in squamate reptiles. J Exp Zool B Mol Dev Evol. 2015; 324(6):493-503. DOI: 10.1002/jez.b.22614. View