Comparative morphology of <em>Liolaemus</em> lizards precloacal glands

Abstract

Liolaemid lizards and amphisbaenids have precloacal pores in the anterior border of the cloaca, where epidermal glands drain and expel pheromonal secretions. Precloacal glands occur usually only in males, but in those few species where both sexes have precloacal glands, these are larger in males. Only the morphology and/or histology of precloacal glands of amphisbaenids have been described, and it is unknown whether in lizards these glands differ across ages, sexes and/or species, and if the lack of pores is associated with a lack of glands. We investigated for the first time the morphology and histology of lizard precloacal glands, by studying three Liolaemus species that differ in the presence of pores in their cloaca: L. irregularis, in which adults and juveniles of both sexes have pores; L. poecilochromus, in which only adult males have pores, and L. neuquensis, in which the adults of both sexes lack pores. Results show that the number of pores varies among species and sexes, but not between ages of a species. Adults, but not juveniles, of L. irregularis have sexual dimorphism in pore sizes; these are larger in males than in females. In addition, pores are larger in adult males of L. irregularis than in L. poecilochromus. Glands are tubuloalveolar with holocrine secretion, having similar structure across individuals, although adult males have larger glands than females and juveniles. Finally, the structure of Liolaemus precloacal glands is very similar to those of the amphisbaenid precloacal glands and the femoral glands of other lizard species.