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margbooth

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Does a female develop eggs if there are no males present?
If the female develops eggs, but there are no ,males will she reabsorb them ,or lay them anyway? thanks Just curious.
 
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Whether the female will reabsorb the eggs depends in no small part whether the eggs have passed down into the body in preperation for laying. If they have developed enough that they have the outer membranes in place do not tend to be reabsorbed (I've seen female Desmognathus m. monticola retain the eggs for more than 5 years). Yes they can and often will develop eggs even if there are no males present. Egg formation is typically controlled by several factors including enviromental factor but one of the main drivers is the availability of fat reserves to provide the calories in the yolk. This doesn't mean that the eggs are properly prepared with all of the nutrients reaquired.

Ed
 
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margbooth

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Thanks for that. Interesting!
So its not harmful for them to be gravid all the time and not breed?
 
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Ed

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margbooth said:
Thanks for that. Interesting!
So its not harmful for them to be gravid all the time and not breed?
Click to expand...

It can potentially be a problem. If there is an issue and the eggs end up in the body cavity, you can get what is called egg yolk periotinitus where there is an infection which can kill the animal. In addition, amphibians (and other animals) that retain eggs for too long without laying them can have adhesions form where tissues attach the eggs to the walls or organs in the body cavity. This can kill the animal if it ever trys to lay the eggs.
This can be seen as an example with this Atelopus zeteki. The toad still has eggs in the abdomen (they can be seen through the skin) and is unable to pass the eggs (which is why there are still some clustered around the vent).
 

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