So much for the press release. In fact sperm storage in squamates has been relatively well studied.
Oviducal sperm storage is known in females of all taxa of squamates except Amphisbaenia. However, in Rhynchocephalia and Crocodilia, sperm storage is poorly studied, and specialized sperm storage tubules (Ssts) are unknown. Sever and Hamlett (2002) used the molecular phylogenetic hypothesis [(Chelonia+Archosauria) (Squamata)] to trace evolution of sperm storage characters and found Ssts arose independently in Chelonia and Squamata. Turtles have albumen-secreting glands in the anterior half of the oviduct (the tuba or isthmus), and the most distal of these glands act as Ssts; in addition, some turtles possess Ssts in the adjacent segment of the oviduct, the uterus. Squamates lack albumen-secreting glands, and the ancestral state is possession of Ssts in the posterior infundibulum (uterine tube). Secondarily, iguanids have evolved vaginal Ssts. They used ultrastructural observations on vaginal Ssts in lizards, with Anolis sagrei (Polychrotidae). Proximally, the neck of these simple tubular glands continues the alternation of ciliated and secretory cells lining the lumen of the vagina. However, the epithelial cells of the distal sperm storage area are neither secretory nor ciliated. The Ssts of Anolis are more similar to those of birds more than to infundibular receptacles in snakes and lizards.
Citation
Sever, D. M. and Hamlett, W. C. (2002), Female sperm storage in reptiles. Journal of Experimental Zoology, 292:187–199. doi: 10.1002/jez.1154