Spermatogenesis of Anolis carolinensis

A cytological study of the spermatogenesis of the American chameleon lizard, Anelis carolinensis, of the family Iguanidas, was made. Testicular tissue, taken from animals collected around Schriever, Louisiana (elevation 15 feet), was fixed in a modification of the Bouin-Allen fluid (corrected for altitude). Slides were prepared in the usual manner and stained in iron hemotoxylin. The diploid number of chromosomes was found to be thirty-four and the haploid number, seventeen. The prophase stages, as well as the metamorphosis of the spermatozoa, followed a general reptilian trend in development. Morphological evidence of sex-chromosomes was encountered. These chromosomes were most obvious in the side view of the primary spermatocyte cells. The sex-chromosome is bipartite and has spindle fiber attachments at one pole of the cell only.