Mouton P Le Fras N, Flemming Alexander F, Searby C Alexander
Department of Zoology, University of Stellenbosch, Matieland, South Africa.
J Morphol. 1998 Mar;235(3):177-182. doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1097-4687(199803)235:3<177::AID-JMOR1>3.0.CO;2-4.
Generation glands are holocrine epidermal glands occurring on the ventral aspect of the thigh of cordylid lizards. In most species these glands seemingly start to differentiate with the onset of sexual maturity, but macroscopic signs of generation gland activity were noted in neonates of the large-scaled girdled lizard, Cordylus macropholis. The glands of neonatal, subadult, and adult individuals were examined microscopically using standard histological techniques. The glands of the five neonatal specimens examined, including both males and females, all had the same basic structure and displayed two layers of mature glandular material. In subadult and adult specimens, the number of layers varied from seven to nine. The structure of the generation glands of C. macropholis is similar to that of the few other Cordylus species that have been described to date. They are of the protruding kind with multiple mature glandular generations. Juveniles of an additional 12 cordylid species have been examined for the presence of active generation glands. Active glands were found to be present in neonates of C. tasmani and C. tropidosternum, both of which are, like C. macropholis, terrestrial species. In C. cordylus and C. coeruleopunctatus, active generation glands are absent in neonates, but differentiate soon after birth. In other cordylid species, generation glands apparently differentiate only with the onset of sexual maturity. J. Morphol. 235:177-182, 1998. © 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
生殖腺是出现在绳蜥科蜥蜴大腿腹面的全浆分泌型表皮腺。在大多数物种中，这些腺体似乎随着性成熟的开始而开始分化，但在大型环纹蜥蜴（Cordylus macropholis）的新生幼体中就已观察到生殖腺活动的宏观迹象。使用标准组织学技术对新生幼体、亚成体和成年个体的腺体进行了显微镜检查。所检查的5个新生幼体标本（包括雄性和雌性）的腺体都具有相同的基本结构，并显示出两层成熟的腺组织。在亚成体和成年标本中，层数从7层到9层不等。C. macropholis的生殖腺结构与迄今已描述的其他少数绳蜥属物种的结构相似。它们属于具有多个成熟腺组织世代的突出型。还检查了另外12种绳蜥科蜥蜴幼体是否存在活跃的生殖腺。结果发现，塔斯马尼亚绳蜥（C. tasmani）和热带胸纹绳蜥（C. tropidosternum）的新生幼体中存在活跃的腺体，这两种蜥蜴与C. macropholis一样，都是陆生物种。在C. cordylus和蓝点绳蜥（C. coeruleopunctatus）中，新生幼体没有活跃的生殖腺，但在出生后不久就开始分化。在其他绳蜥科物种中，生殖腺显然仅在性成熟开始时才分化。《形态学杂志》235:177 - 182，1998年。© 1998威利 - 利斯公司。
