Vertebrate Functional Biology Group

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Research fields

Evolution of placental specialization in viviparous lizards

Scincids, specifically members of the genus Mabuya (Trachylepis), hold the key to only the second time in 300 million years in which an extreme form of placentotrophy (i.e., nu-trient transfer over the placenta) has arisen among amniotes - the other being that in Mesozoic mammals. This nutritional pattern has been known to exist in South American Mabuya for some time, but the origin thereof remained unresolved until we described extreme placentotrophy in an African lineage. All New World Mabuya species are viviparous and placentotrophic, but African ones may be oviparous or viviparous, and embryos may feed on yolk or through placentotrophy. African Mabuya offers great potential to study not only oviparity to viviparity transformation in closely related taxa /populations, but also the evolution of viviparous placentotrophy.

Contact person: Alex Flemming
Current collaboration: Daniel Blackburn, Trinity College, USA

Contact details:

Department of Botany & Zoology
University of Stellenbosch
Private Bag X1
Matieland 7602
South Africa

Tel: +2721 808-3236
Fax: +2721 808-2405
E-mail: aa2@sun.ac.za
http://www.sun.ac.za/botzoo