Brodybreaux25
Chameleon Enthusiast
Credit: Petr Necas
Sexual dimorphism in Furcifer pardalis alias
Sexing The Panther
In the Panther Chameleons, the sexes differ in many features from each other. They show the s.c. Primary sexual dimorphism, which is expressed through the presence of sexual glands (testes with ductus deferens in males and ovaries with oviducts in females) and copulatory organs (hemipenes in males, hemiclitoris in females).
The problem for sexing animals is, that some of these organs (first group) are situated in the body cavity and some (the second group) in special pockets at the base if the tail, none of them are invisible from outside.
There is a technique how to evert the hemipenis, but in young animals and in animals which are dehydrated, old or out of breeding season, it does not work reliably, plus, it might be painful for the animal and is definitely rather stressful, especially if done by an inexperienced owner, therefore not recommended.
Fortunately, there are several Secondary sexual characteristics, that allow us to define the sex rather reliably, especially in adult animals:
CRANIAL CRESTS The male possess significantly swollen rostral creats that meet anove the snout to form a concave rostral protuberance - a false horn, while the females possess a faint ridge only.
SIZE The males are much bigger than the females, they can reach up to 20in / 11in resp, usually stay smaller.
BODY PROPORTIONS The females are built more compact with smaller heads and les rugous scales
TAIL BASE Due to the presence of male copulatory organs, hemipenes, the tail base behind cloacal is thicker/swollen in males
GULAR CREST The conical scales on the gular crest are relatively much bigger in males
COLORATION The excited males show a wide variety of colors from red through green, blue, pink, yellow, to white, while females are colored usually in tones of brown, red and pink.
For reliable sex determination, the size and colors and male swollen canthi rostrales horns are a good guidance in all ages starting 3rd month of age.
Table
The left column relates always to male, the right to females
It shows the differences(top down) in:
General habitus
Head form
Tail base
Gular crest
Sexual dimorphism in Furcifer pardalis alias
Sexing The Panther
In the Panther Chameleons, the sexes differ in many features from each other. They show the s.c. Primary sexual dimorphism, which is expressed through the presence of sexual glands (testes with ductus deferens in males and ovaries with oviducts in females) and copulatory organs (hemipenes in males, hemiclitoris in females).
The problem for sexing animals is, that some of these organs (first group) are situated in the body cavity and some (the second group) in special pockets at the base if the tail, none of them are invisible from outside.
There is a technique how to evert the hemipenis, but in young animals and in animals which are dehydrated, old or out of breeding season, it does not work reliably, plus, it might be painful for the animal and is definitely rather stressful, especially if done by an inexperienced owner, therefore not recommended.
Fortunately, there are several Secondary sexual characteristics, that allow us to define the sex rather reliably, especially in adult animals:
CRANIAL CRESTS The male possess significantly swollen rostral creats that meet anove the snout to form a concave rostral protuberance - a false horn, while the females possess a faint ridge only.
SIZE The males are much bigger than the females, they can reach up to 20in / 11in resp, usually stay smaller.
BODY PROPORTIONS The females are built more compact with smaller heads and les rugous scales
TAIL BASE Due to the presence of male copulatory organs, hemipenes, the tail base behind cloacal is thicker/swollen in males
GULAR CREST The conical scales on the gular crest are relatively much bigger in males
COLORATION The excited males show a wide variety of colors from red through green, blue, pink, yellow, to white, while females are colored usually in tones of brown, red and pink.
For reliable sex determination, the size and colors and male swollen canthi rostrales horns are a good guidance in all ages starting 3rd month of age.
Table
The left column relates always to male, the right to females
It shows the differences(top down) in:
General habitus
Head form
Tail base
Gular crest
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