Charles J. Cole, Harry L. Taylor, Diana P. Baumann, Peter Baumann
Breviora 539 (1), 1-20, (5 December 2014) https://doi.org/10.3099/MCZ17.1
KEYWORDS: Aspidoscelis neavesi, new species, tetraploid, Parthenogenesis, clonal lineages
The first known tetraploid amniote that reproduces through parthenogenetic cloning by individual females is named and described. The species originated through hybridization between Aspidoscelis exsanguis (triploid parthenogen) × Aspidoscelis inornata (diploid bisexual or gonochoristic species) in the laboratory. We compared multivariate morphological variation between two lineages that arose from separate F1 hybrid zygotes in one clutch and among several generations in those lineages. The tetraploid species is also compared with its ancestral taxa, with two hybrids of A. exsanguis × A. inornata that were found in nature at two localities that are 100 km apart in southern New Mexico, and with three laboratory hybrid males. This will facilitate identification of field-caught tetraploids in the future.