Egg size and egg shape in near-eastern gekkonid lizards

Gekkoninae, laying rigid, precisely mensurable eggs in invariable clutches served to examine the relations between egg shape, egg size and mother size, at intra- and interspecific levels. Ellipticity (ratio width/length) and volume were calculated from linear measurements of 82 eggs obtained in captivity from geckos of eleven Near-Eastern taxa. Clutch volume apportioned to one or two eggs, was interspecifically correlated to maternal length. Eggs varied in size, intra- and interspecifically, generally retaining near-uniform ellipticity but some exceedingly large eggs were more elongate. In Ptyodactylus hasselquistii guttatus the eggs, flexible when laid, are pushed by the mother into near-spherical shape; hatchling length is correlated to egg diameter. Gecko clutches constitute as much mass, relative to maternal mass, as in many other lizard groups.