Lizard Reproductive System

Male with visible femoral pores (© RVC and its licensors, Sean Bobbit, Sue Evans, Andrew Devare and Claire Moore. All rights reserved)

Hemipenes - the paired sex organ in male lizards (© RVC and its licensors, Sean Bobbit, Sue Evans, Andrew Devare and Claire Moore. All rights reserved)

Female lizard (© RVC and its licensors, Sean Bobbit, Sue Evans, Andrew Devare and Claire Moore. All rights reserved)

The presence of large femoral pores in some lizards, such as male iguanas, helps with sexing.

Male

Male lizards have paired hemipenes that are sac-like and lack erectile tissue. They are stored, inverted, in the base of the tail and may produce bulges in the ventral proximal tail. Only one is used at a time during copulation and it is not involved in urination. The testicles increase in size during the breeding season.

A row of femoral pores can be seen on the medial aspect of the thigh in many families of lizard. The waxy secretion of cellular debris produced is thought by some to have territorial scent marking significance and by others to prevent the male sliding on the belly of the female during coitus (see also preanal pore).

Female

Females have paired ovaries and oviducts. The oviduct is divided into four regions: infundibulum; magnus (secretes albumin); uterus (secretes membrane); and vagina. Dystocia is common and may be pre-ovulatory or post-ovulatory.