Reptiles
Plateau Striped Whiptail
Aspidoscelis velox · also called plateau striped whiptails
Across a mountain meadow in the Southwest, a plateau striped whiptail forages briskly through the grass, an all-female lizard whose every offspring will be a genetic copy of herself, produced from an unfertilised egg without any male ever entering the picture.
Overview
The plateau striped whiptail, Aspidoscelis velox, is an entirely female, parthenogenetic lizard native to mountain grassland and forest edge habitat across Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent states. Its cloning reproductive strategy, arising independently from other all-female whiptail lineages, makes it one of several genuinely unusual parthenogenetic reptiles found in the American Southwest.
Another species, another independent origin
Rather than sharing a single all-female ancestor with its similarly cloning whiptail relatives, the plateau striped whiptail arose from its own separate hybridisation event entirely, proof that parthenogenesis has evolved more than once within the same broader group of lizards.
Status
Least Concern — widespread and stable across suitable mountain grassland and forest edge habitat throughout its range in the southwestern United States.
Plateau Striped Whiptail: common questions
Does the plateau striped whiptail need a male to reproduce?
No, the plateau striped whiptail consists entirely of females that reproduce through parthenogenesis, laying unfertilised eggs that develop into genetic copies of the mother, meaning the species has no males at all and every individual reproduces without mating.
Is the plateau striped whiptail the same all-female lineage as the checkered whiptail?
No, the plateau striped whiptail represents its own separate parthenogenetic lineage, having arisen from its own distinct ancient hybridisation event independently of the checkered whiptail and other all-female whiptail species, even though all of these lineages share the same general reproductive strategy.
How can you tell a plateau striped whiptail from other whiptails?
A plateau striped whiptail displays a pattern of bold, clean longitudinal stripes without the spotting seen in some related whiptail species, giving it a tidier, more simply striped appearance that helps distinguish it from spotted or checkered whiptail relatives.
Where does the plateau striped whiptail live?
The plateau striped whiptail is native to mountain grassland and forest edge habitat across Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent states, generally favouring cooler, higher-elevation terrain than several of its desert-floor whiptail relatives.