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Found a lizard...

  • Thread starter adnedarn
  • Start date

adnedarn

I'm growing CPs in the Desert of Tucson, Az
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Hello, I found a lizard running arround in my green house.    I went ahead and caught him (darn he was fast!)   I took his picture and let him go out in the bushes....   I dunno, I just thought you all might wanna see.   I asked spec if he knew what it was...  and I guess he showed Zach who determined it was a Whiptail. Including tail, i'd say he/she was about 8 inches long.  Enjoy!
lizard.jpg

Andrew
 
Send him to me!!!!!!!
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From what I read, there is a better chance it is a "her" something about alot of them in this class are only girls... and they lay unfertile eggs that hatch clones of mom! Also, they can run up to 15 MPH!!
Andrew
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (adnedarn @ May 22 2004,8:19)]From what I read, there is a better chance it is a "her"  something about alot of them in this class are only girls...  and they lay unfertile eggs that hatch clones of mom!   Also, they can run up to 15 MPH!!
Andrew
Those are whiptails, if they run that fast. There is no higher female/male ratio at all... but if a female can't find a male, she can make clones of herself... dunno how they do it, but I think its something along the lines of the way aphids do it.

EDIT: also, no egg thats unfertile can develop into a baby... There has to be SOME kind of cell to split and start growing
 
Spec, wouldn't you think I've read alot about this before I posted?? Allow me to prove you wrong. This quote is taken from http://members.aol.com/Attic21/CreatureofDay/whip.html.
And the same info is all over the web, not just this site. Enjoy learning little cricket.
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Andrew


Whiptail Lizards and Parthenogenesis (Virgin Birth)

In 15 of the Cnemidophorus species there are no males. They reproduce without fertilization, a process known as parthenogenesis of "virgin birth". Parthenogenesis is well known in lower animals, such as aphids,bees, and Daphnia but is rare in vertebrates. The offspring of parthenogenic lizards are clones, identical to the mother.

There are some advantages to a parthenogenic lifestyle:

All members of your species can lay eggs and reproduction is more efficient
Good mutations are passed on more efficiently in clones than in sexual species
You don't waste a lot of time and energy searching for a mate (this might not be true in this species, since the females do pair up)
One of the surprising things about unisexual whiptail reproduction is that a courtship ritual is still required even though there is only one sex. Unisexual whiptails pair up. In the courtship ritual one female takes the part of a male, while the other takes the role of a female. Later the 2 lizards switch roles. The switch is caused by hormones: estrogen promotes female behavior; progesterone stimulates male behavior. The mating ritual is required for survival of the species: without it few eggs are released (ovulation)
 
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<span id='ME'><center>Spectabilis73 turns into little cricket</center></span>
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That last paragraph reminds me of junior high square dancing, when there weren't enough brave guys around.
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There are 55 species in the genus Cnemidophorus and only 15 of them are considered parthenogenic. Only in those species can the female reproduce parthnogenically. There is some debate as to whether some of these constitute true species as apparently most of these are the result of hybridization zones between two species. The debate is because the parthenogenic whiptails are not a stable group and populations are continually being reformed by hybridization (unlike the unisexual hybrid ambystomids which apparently the result of long past hybridization events according to DNA studies).

Ed
 
HUH, Kinda akin to this one Molinasa(spelling WAYYYYYYYYY off I bet) (molly) that is a fertile hybrid between 2 different species and was once thought to be a species the funny thing is is that there are only females! They then reproduce with a male of either parent specie. And produce a female clone of themselfs! This goes on and on.
 
  • #10
Its no fair someone always posts the info about something before I get here to show my knowledge
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(Yes, I love to show off)
Anyways. Whiptails are cool. I love the I think Ornate whiptails? I sae them in a Reptiles issue some years ago. I'd have to check my guide to see if the name is right. But the Black/white patterns are something else
 
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