Desert Grassland Whiptail Lizard
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Desert Grassland Whiptail Lizard |
||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Scientific classification | ||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
Aspidoscelis uniparens Wright and Lowe, 1965 |
The Desert Grassland Whiptail lizard (Aspidoscelis uniparens) is an all-female species. These reptiles reproduce by parthenogenesis; eggs undergo a chromosome doubling after meiosis and develop into lizards without being fertilized. However, ovulation is enhanced by female-female courtship and "mating" (pseudocopulation) rituals that imitate the behavior of closely related species that reproduce sexually.
The lizard lives in dry deserts from central Arizona to west Texas and south into Mexico.