Selection for increased maternal body volume does not differ between two Scincella lizards with different reproductive modes

Variation of Reproductive Traits and Female Body Size in the Most Widely-Ranging Terrestrial Reptile: Testing the Effects of Reproductive Mode, Lineage, and Climate

“…Although this pattern of offspring size variation is in line with the ‘volume constraint hypothesis’ (Prediction 1a), this pattern was not common in previous studies. It was reported in none of the other two reproductively bimodal lizard species (Qualls and Shine 1995; Smith and Shine 1997) and in only two of the 7 lizard and snake genera in which oviparous and viviparous species were compared (Guillette 1982; Shine 1987; Medina and Ibargüengoytía 2010; Sun et al 2012; Yang et al 2012). …”

“…These predicted responses do not exclude one another, but each of them may have fitness costs. Only few studies compared life-history traits in conspecific populations (Qualls and Shine 1995; Smith and Shine 1997; Lindtke et al 2010) or related species (Guillette 1982; Shine 1987; Medina and Ibargüengoytía 2010; Sun et al 2012; Yang et al 2012) which differ in reproductive mode. Their results showed no clearly consistent pattern.…”

Sexual Dimorphism, Female Reproductive Characteristics and Embryonic Thermosensitivity in the Tonkin Forest Skink (<italic>Sphenomorphus tonkinensis</italic>) from Hainan, South China

“…With female SVL held constant, egg mass was found to show no significant negative correlation with clutch size (r = -0.26, t = 1.19, df = 19, P = 0.249). This finding suggests that, as in other oviparous sincid lizards such as the Long-tailed Sun Skink Eutropis longicaudata (Sun et al, 2012), S. modesta (Yang et al, 2012) and S. incognitus (Ma et al, 2018), the egg size-number trade-off is not evident or eggs are well optimized for size in S. tonkinensis.…”

“…The evolution and maintenance of a SSD pattern often result from sexual differences in reproductive success relating to adult size (Cox et al, 2003). Within the family Scincidae, sexual selection via male contest competition is the key factor for male-biased SSD in the Chinese Skink Plestiodon (Eumeces) chinensis (Lin and Ji, 2000), the Blue-tailed Skink Plestiodon elegans (Zhang and Ji, 2004) and the Many-lined Sun Skink Eutropis (Mabuya) multifasciata (Ji et al, 2006a), and fecundity selection is the main factor for female-biased SSD in S. indicus (Ji and Du, 2000), the Slender Forest Skink Scincella modesta and the Reeves' Smooth Skink Scincella reevesii (Yang et al, 2012). SSM occurs in a diverse array of lizard taxa including species of the families Agamidae (Ji et al, 2002a;Lin, 2004;Qu et al, 2011), Lacertidae (Li et al, 2006;Lu et al, 2023), Sincidae (Lin, 2005) and Shinisauridae (He et al, 2011) where these two selective forces cancel each other out or male contest competition and physical constraints from maternal body size on reproductive output are both less evident.…”

Complete mitochondrial genome of Scincella modesta (Squamata: Scincidae)

“…Despite the fact that it is taxonomically and zoogeographically well known, the biology and ecology of this species remain almost unknown. Most previous studies on S. modesta were about its sexual size dimorphism (Yang et al 2012), reproductive traits and thermal biology (Li et al 2012) and so on. In order to do so, further research on molecular levels about S. modesta and other skinks in the genus Scincella, it is necessary to analyze its complete mitochondrial genome.…”