Avaliação do estágio folicular na estação reprodutiva das subespécies Crotalus durissus terrificus e Crotalus durissus collilineatus mantidas no laboratório de Herpetologia do Instituto Butantan.

Abstract

In Brazil, there are several representatives of snakes, with more than 405 species, given the extreme diversity of ecosystems in the country. Knowledge of the reproductive cycle of venomous species is of extreme relevance, for example for species popularly known as rattlesnakes (Crotalus durissus). In this study, follicular stages of two subspecies of Crotalus durissus (C. d. collilineatus and C. d. terrificus) from the Laboratory of Herpetology of Butantan Institute were compared and evaluated at their breeding stations (autumn and winter), with the ultrasound aid. During these two seasons the follicles I, II and III had greater representativity and the IV follicle obtained increase only at winter, which was the expected period, since it precedes the ovulation. So, it seems that captive animals appear to maintain their reproductive patterns when compared to the literature of free-living animals.