Age, Diakonoff, 1982

Mouton, P. Le Fras N., Janse Van Rensburg, Dahné A. & Van Wyk, Johannes H., 2010, Epidermal glands in cordylid lizards, with special reference to generation glands, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 158 (2), pp. 312-324 : 322

AGE (SIZE) OF GENERATION GLAND DIFFERENTIATION

Results of this study show that there is considerable variation among cordylids in the ontogenetic stage at which generation glands start to differentiate. In most species, these glands start to differentiate at, or after, the onset of sexual maturity; in a few species, differentiation can take place well before sexual maturity is reached, and in a few others still, seemingly active glands are already present at birth. The significance of the earlier differentiation of generation glands in some species compared with others is not clear. There is presently no information available on whether generation glands in immature individuals, despite similar morphological appearance, are comparable with glands in mature individuals in terms of activity and/or the chemical composition of secretions. It is significant, however, that the three species where differentiated generation glands are already present in neonates are unrelated ground-dwelling species (Mouton, Flemming & Searby, 1998). It would thus appear that the presence of generation glands in neonates could be related to a ground-dwelling lifestyle.