Chemiese kommunikasie van die Suid-Afrikaanse gordelakkedisse

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT:The sungazer, Cordylus giganteus, is an endangered lizard species belonging to thefamily Cordylidae. It has been speculated that the function of semiochemicalcommunication is performed by two types of skin glands, the femoral glands and thegeneration glands, which are also found in this family of lizards. Other skin glandsand also the cloacal glands are further possible sources of semiochemicals. Theinvestigation of these potential sources of chemical messages in C. giganteus, servedas a starting point towards a better understanding of the chemical communication oflizard species belonging to the family Cordylidae. In continuation of this study thefemoral gland secretion of the Cape girdled lizard, C. cordylus, was also investigated.Gas chromatography, low resolution GC-MS, GC-HR-MS, MO-TMS derivatisationand retention time comparison were used as analytical techniques in the chemicalcharacterization of the femoral and generation gland secretions of C. giganteus andthe femoral gland secretion of C. cordylus. Some compounds were not identifiedbecause of their low concentration in the secretions and/or mass spectra could not beobtained for pure compounds because of co-elution with other compounds.Compounds identified in the femoral gland secretion include the following:Carboxylic acids - saturated and unsaturatedAlcoholsKetonesAldehydes - saturated and unsaturatedEsters - saturated and unsaturatedHydrocarbons - saturated and unsaturatedNitrilesAmides - saturated and unsaturatedy-LactonesSqualeneu-TocopherolSteroidsQuantitative analysis of the femoral and generation gland secretions of a number ofsungazers indicated distinct differences between the secretions of males and females(in the case of the femoral gland secretions), but no apparent trend could be found inthe differences between the femoral and generation gland secretions of individuallizards of the same gender. Qualitative seasonal differences were however observed inthe femoral gland secretions of all individuals of C giganteus.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University