# Interesting herpetological life-cycle



## npaull (May 8, 2005)

Not amphibian-related, but a cool article. Shows how some themes in evolution just keep popping up... a semelparous (or nearly so) reptile!

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20 ... 173924.htm


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## earthfrog (May 18, 2008)

Very cool---it's amazing how creatures so complex can live for such a short time!


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## skylsdale (Sep 16, 2007)

What would be the benefit of this for the species--by keeping eggs in the ground for such a long period of time, they are being kept relatively safe from predation for as long as possible until a rather short but intense life/breeding cycle can occur?


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## Catfur (Oct 5, 2004)

skylsdale said:


> What would be the benefit of this for the species--by keeping eggs in the ground for such a long period of time, they are being kept relatively safe from predation for as long as possible until a rather short but intense life/breeding cycle can occur?


F. labordi is from a semi-arid part of Madagascar. The abbreviated adult lifespan allows them to exist here by speeding up the lifecycle so they can go from hatchling to bred-and-dead in the short wet season. The long egg cycle time is typical of chameleons (there is one chameleon with an egg incubation time of 600 days).


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## Matt Mirabello (Aug 29, 2004)

Catfur said:


> skylsdale said:
> 
> 
> > What would be the benefit of this for the species--
> ...


Staying alive through the dry season comes at a "cost," at least a resource/energetic one. Many amphibians do this by developing a protective coating to protect against dessication while underground. A recurring theme seen in unrelated African (african bullfrog), N/S american (spadefoot toads and Argentine horned frogs), and Australian species (A desert spadefoot). One of the benefits to the kind of skin they have, though it does carry other risks. I am not as familiar with similar mechanisms in reptiles but they may include thicker scales, minimizing water loss in wastes, behaviors to minimize water lost (nocturnal etc). In this case it seems that the cost of staying alive was more than the benefit of investing more in reproduction. Not to say there is not a better means for this species but the transition to such a state may be prohibitive due to an "activation barrier" (making them temporarily less fit!) OR the evolutionary means (mutations/variations) have not manifested themselves.

It gets me thinking about the opposite case in our frogs. What is the benefit to a poison frog living such a long time? This is a bit of a generalization across the family and who is to say that wild darts live as long as captive ones.


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## Catfur (Oct 5, 2004)

Breed-breed-breed-breed-breed-breed-die is a pretty common lifecycle among chameleons. While they can live 5 years or more in captivity, many species won't live past a single breeding season in the wild (like F. pardalis, or F. lateralis).

This looks like just an extreme example of a common chameleon lifestyle.


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