Oelofsen, B

Vorster, W

English

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1976 SHORT COMMUNICATIONS 225 DISCUSSION According to Roberts (1958) the two most com-mon changes which occur in the testes of domestic livestock and cause disturbed spermatogenesis are hypoplasia, which is congenital or hereditary, and degeneration of the seminiferous tubules, which is usually acquired but may be predisposed by genetic defects, weakness or inherent constitution. Testicular hypoplasia which has been re-ported in horses, cattle, sheep and goats may occur unilaterally or bilaterally, and is charac-terized by varying degrees of hypoplasia of the germinal epithelium of the seminiferous tubules (Mixner 1959). In the zebra it was noticed that in both cases the larger normal testicle was con-siderably larger than an average-sized normal testicle (151 g), while mean seminiferous tubule diameters (173 I'm and 219 I'm) were similar to that of normal stallions (mean = 175 I'm). It would thus appear that, as is the case with domes-tic livestock (Roberts 1958), zebra with unilateral testicular hypoplasia are not infertile. Nalbandov (1964) states that cryptorchidism occurs spontaneously in practically all mammalian species. It is, however, important and relatively common in the horse (Sisson & Grossman 1953; Mixner 1959; Smith & Jones 1966). In domestic animals unilateral cryptorchidism is most com-mon, usually resulting in a reduced sperm cell count but normal fertility (Roberts 1958). Bilateral cryptorchidism results in sterility, due to failure of A NEW RECORD FOR PTENOPUS (REPTILIA: GEKKONIDAE) FROM CALITZDORP B. OELOFSEN AND W. VORSTER Department o/Zoology, University 0/ Stellenbosch Three specimens of Ptenopus, tentatively identi-fied as P. garrulus maculatus Gray were recently collected near the Calitzdorp airstrip when Ptenopus calls heard near Prince Albert were fol-development of the seminiferous epithelium. The bilaterally cryptorchid zebra noted in the present study was definitely infertile. REFERENCES MIXNER, J.P. 1959. Anatomical and physiological factors affecting fertility in domestic animals. In Reproduction in domestic animals, 2, ed. H. H. Cole & P. T. Cupps. New York: Academic Press. NALBANDOV, A. v. 1964. Reproductive physiology, 2nd ed. San Francisco: W. H. Freeman & Co. ROBERTS, s. J. 1958. Infertility in male animals. In Veterinary obstetrics and genital diseases. Michigan: Edwards Brothers Inc. SISSON, s. & GROSSMAN, J. D. 1953. The anatomy 0/ the domestic animals, 4th ed., revised. Phila-delphia: W. B. Saunders Company. SMITH, H. A. & JONES, T. C. 1966. The genital sys-tem. In Veterinary pathology, 3rd ed. Phila-delphia: Lea Febiger. SMUTS, o. L. 1974. Growth, reproduction and population characteristics of Burchell's zebra (Equus burchelli ant;quorum, H. Smith, 1841) in the Kruger National Park. D.Sc. Disserta-tion, Univ. of Pretoria. SMUTS, o. L. 1975. Reproduction in the zebra stallion (Equus burchelli antiquorum) from the Kruger National Park. Zool. a/r. 11 :207-220. lowed up. This extends the range of Ptenopus into the Great and Little Karroo. Previously the southernmost record as given by Haacke (1975) is from Nuwerust on the west coast. REFERENCES HAACKE, W. D. 1975. The burrowing geckos of southern Africa, 1 (Reptilia: Gekkonidae). Ann. Transvaal Mus. 29: 197-243. Reproduced by Sabinet Gateway under licence granted by the Publisher (dated 2010). 

A new record for Ptenopus (Reptilia: Gekkonidae) from calitzdorp

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A new record for Ptenopus (Reptilia: Gekkonidae) from calitzdorp

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