Germinal bed condition in a polyautochronic single-clutched lizard, Bassiana duperreyi (Scincidae)

Abstract. In lizards, the eggs are produced within small regions of the ovary known as germinal beds (GBs); previous literature suggests that the number of GBs per ovary may be linked to life-history traits such as clutch size and breeding frequency. In the oviparous montane Australian skink Bassiana duperreyi, females produce a single clutch of 3 to 11 eggs each year. Our histological examination of ovaries of this species revealed a single GB per ovary. In combination with previous studies, our results suggest that scincid lizards may offer ideal model systems to explore the functional link between ovarian morphology and life-history traits in lizards. All female reptiles possess a pair of ovaries at-tached to the dorsal body wall, but the mas-sive interspecific variation in clutch sizes among lizards (Fitch, 1970) is reflected in significant variation in ovarian morphology. The number of eggs that an ovary can produce per clutch is controlled by (1) the number of germinal beds (GBs) per ovary, (2) the total number of folli-cles per GB, and (3) the proportion of follicles that become vitellogenic (Jones et al., 1982). The germinal bed is a small region on the dorsal ovarian surface consisting of dividing oogonia, naked oocytes and primordial follicles (Jones e