A circulus is a rarely occurring
reptilian social group
In the social sciences, a social group can be defined as two or more people who interact with one another, share similar characteristics, and collectively have a sense of unity. Regardless, social groups come in a myriad of sizes and varieties ...
where there is interaction and personal exchange between individuals. Members will often protect and defend young, even if not of direct
genetic linkage. ''Circulus'' is a
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
based term; one definition of the word is "a social gathering or circle company".
[Andrews,E.A; 1875. ''Latin-English Lexicon.'' Harper & Brothers publishers, 329 & 331 Pearl Street, Franklin Square, New York, U.S.A. 1663 pp.]
Most reptiles are indifferent socially to each other as adults or to offspring.
Behaviours
Among
crocodilians and certain
lizards, there is a much greater interaction between members. Young will be guarded and defended for a considerable period of time.
Crocodilians of both sexes carry and assist young
hatchling
In oviparous biology, a hatchling is a newly hatched fish, amphibian, reptile, or bird. A group of mammals called monotremes lay eggs, and their young are hatchlings as well.
Fish
Fish hatchlings generally do not receive parental care, similar to ...
s to the water and guard them. The
gharial (''Gavialis gangeticus'') has to nudge young to the water because their teeth are too sharp to carry them. Sub-adult members of a crocodilian social group will often stand by a female laying eggs or retrieving young from a nest to keep predators away. The female
Asian forest tortoise
The Asian forest tortoise (''Manouria emys''), also known commonly as the Mountain tortoise, is a species of tortoise in the family Testudinidae. The species is endemic to Southeast Asia. It is believed to be among the most primitive of living ...
(Manouria emys) has been reported to guard a nest site for a short period after egg laying but this instinct is very short lived.
In
stump-tailed skinks (''Tiliqua rugosa'') and
Solomon Islands skink
The Solomon Islands skink (''Corucia zebrata''), also known as prehensile-tailed skink, monkey-tailed skink, giant skink, zebra skink, and monkey skink, is an arboreal species of skink endemic to the Solomon Islands archipelago. It is the large ...
s (''Corucia spp''), long term
bonding of pairs with each other and other members has been recorded. In the case of Corucia,
orphan
An orphan (from the el, ορφανός, orphanós) is a child whose parents have died.
In common usage, only a child who has lost both parents due to death is called an orphan. When referring to animals, only the mother's condition is usuall ...
ed young have been observed being adopted into the circulus.
The social bond and parental attention of reptiles appears equal in circulus containing
egg
An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the a ...
-laying reptiles compared to those with
live bearing reptiles. Another case of egg-laying lizards with a circulus is the
red-eyed crocodile skink
''Tribolonotus gracilis'', commonly known as the red-eyed crocodile skink, is a species of skink that is sometimes kept as an exotic pet. The species is endemic to New Guinea, where it lives in a tropical rainforest habitat. It was first desc ...
(''Tribolonotus gracilis''). The female will sit on the egg and guard the young. As in the case of Corucia, the young tend to stay close to the parents, especially, the mother who guards the neonate. The young skink will often climb on the
abaxial area of the female or male for protection and security, just as in the case of the Solomon Islands skink (''
Corucia zebrata'').
[Jones,Schnirel ;(2006). ''Subspecies comparison of the Genus: Corucia''. Polyphemos, Florence, South Carolina U.S.A., Volume 4, Issue 1. May. pp 1- 25]
References
{{reflist
Further reading
* Bustard, H.R.; Moharana, S.; 1985. ''Captive Breeding of the Gharial (Gavalis gangetius-underlined).'' ASRA The Journal of the Association for the Study of Reptilia and Amphibia. 2(4): pp. 23–45.
* Hauschild, Andree; Gassner, Paul; 1999. ''Corucia zebrata Der Wickelschwanzskink Terrarien Biblothek Natur und Tier'' – verlag 79 pp.
* Parker, F. 1983. The prehensile-tailed skink (Corucia zebrata) on Bougainville Island, Papua New Guinea. In: Rhodin, A. & K. Miyata (eds.). Advances in Herpetology and Evolutionary Biology. Harvard Univ. Press, Cambridge. pp. 435–440.
* Ruston W. Hartdegen, Matthew J. Russell, Bruce Young, and Richard D. Reams (1909) ''Vocalization of the Crocodile skink Tribolonotus gracilis (DeRooy, 1909), and evidence of parental care''. ''Contemporary Herpetology'' 2001 Number 2 18 July 2001 ISSN 1094-2246
* Schnirel, Brian L. 2004. ''Seni biometric analysis on the extinct Scincidae species: Macroscincus coctei. Underlined'' Polyphemos, Volume 2, Issue 1, May, Florence, South Carolina, U.S.A. May pp. 12–22.
* Schnirel, Brian L.; Jones, Sherri L.; 2006. ''Measurements on Increase in Girth and weight in the Scincidae species: Corucia zebrata – underlined.'' Polyphemos, Florence, South Carolina, U.S.A. pp. 1–3
External links
Reptilia zoo Monkey skink addition
Ethology
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