Get out your copy of A Naturalist's Guide to Sabino Canyon (2nd edition, 2012) and fix the typo on page 36, under Sonoran spotted / Gila spotted group. Should be: (parthenogenesis). Thank you!
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| Photo by Ned Harris 5/23/2014 |
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| Photo by Ned Harris 5/23/2014 |
Some experts disagree that
Sonoran spotted and
Gila spotted Whiptails are separate species, but everyone agrees that all are females who reproduce by parthenogenesis, i.e., individuals put an entire copy of their genetic material in their eggs; all hatchlings are clones of the mom. Not the best strategy for disease, climate change, or any other threat to survival, but it gets the job of reproduction done.
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