Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek. Department of biology.
Abstract
Poskok, Vipera ammodytes (Linnaeus, 1758) europska je vrsta otrovnice o čijoj se reprodukciji malo zna. Za potrebe istraživanja prikupljeno je 16 gravidnih ženki s 4 lokaliteta sjeverozapadne Hrvatske koje su okotile sveukupno 113 juvenilnih jedinki. Cilj ovog istraživanja bio je utvrditi morfometrijske i merističke parametre ženki i juvenilnih jedinki, odrediti prisutnost spolnog dimorfizma kod juvenilnih jedinki s parametrima koji mu doprinose, utvrditi postoje li korelacije između ženke i juvenilnih jedinki te odrediti energetski prijenos kroz izračun relativne mase legla. Spolni dimorfizam utvrđen je kod 5 parametara s većim srednjim vrijednostima kod mužjaka. Testiranje korelacija između ženki i juvenilnih jedinki pokazalo je da ženke ulažu u veće leglo i veće jedinke. Relativna masa legla (RCM) iznosila je 59% uložene energije u prosjeku što je visoka vrijednost. Visoka RCM i dvogodišnji reproduktivni ciklus ukazuju na reproduktivnu strategiju koju ženka koristi za optimizaciju reproduktivnog napora.Nose-horned viper, Vipera ammodytes, (Linnaeus, 1758) is European viper species of which reproduction is little known. For the needs of this research 16 gravid females were collected from 4 localities in northwestern Croatia which gave birth to a total of 113 juveniles. Goals of this research were to determine morphological and meristic parameters of females and juveniles, see whether there is sexual dimorphism present with regard to parameters which contribute to it, assess correlations in morphometric parameters of female and juveniles and calculate energy transfer through relative clutch mass. Sexual dimorphism is present in 5 parameters between juveniles with males having higher values. Tests for correlations showed that females invest in clutch mass as well as in number of juveniles. Relative clutch mass showed 59% of energy investment in average which is considered a high value. High value of RCM and biennial reproductive cycle suggests that female is using this reproductvie strategy to optimize reproductive effort
