Aspidoscelis
Template:Short description Template:Automatic taxobox
Aspidoscelis is a genus of whiptail lizards in the family Teiidae.
Taxonomy
The nomenclature for the genus Aspidoscelis was published by T.W. Reeder et al. in 2002. Many species that were formerly included in the genus Cnemidophorus are now considered Aspidoscelis based upon divergent characters between the two groups.
Etymology
The name Aspidoscelis literally means "shield-leg", from the Ancient Greek [[wikt:ἀσπίς|Template:Transliteration]] ("shield") and [[wikt:σκέλος|Template:Transliteration]] ("leg").[1]
Species
The following species are recognized as being valid.[2][3]
- Aspidoscelis angusticeps (Cope, 1878)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". – Yucatán whiptail
- Aspidoscelis arizonae (Van Denburgh, 1896)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". – Arizona striped whiptail
- Aspidoscelis burti (E.H. Taylor, 1938)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". – canyon spotted whiptail
- Aspidoscelis calidipes (Duellman, 1955)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". – Tepalcatepec Valley whiptail
- Aspidoscelis carmenensis (Maslin & Secoy, 1986)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". – Carmen Island whiptail
- Aspidoscelis ceralbensis (Van Denburgh & Slevin, 1921)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". – Cerralvo Island whiptail
- Aspidoscelis communis (Cope, 1878)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". – Colima giant whiptail
- Aspidoscelis costatus (Cope, 1878)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". – western Mexico whiptail lizard
- Aspidoscelis cozumela (Gadow, 1906)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". – Cozumel racerunner
- Aspidoscelis danheimae (Burt, 1929)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". – Isla San José whiptail
- Aspidoscelis deppii (Wiegmann, 1834)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". – blackbelly racerunner
- Aspidoscelis dixoni (Scudday, 1973)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". – gray checkered whiptail
- Aspidoscelis espiritensis (Van Denburgh & Slevin, 1921)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". – Espiritu Santo whiptail
- Aspidoscelis exsanguis (Lowe, 1956)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". – Chihuahuan spotted whiptail
- Aspidoscelis franciscensis (Van Denburgh & Slevin, 1921)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". – San Francisco Island whiptail
- Aspidoscelis gularis (Baird & Girard, 1852)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". – Texas spotted whiptail
- Aspidoscelis guttatus (Wiegmann, 1834)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". – Mexican racerunner
- Aspidoscelis hyperythrus (Cope, 1864)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". – orange-throated whiptail
- Aspidoscelis inornatus (Baird, 1859)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". – little striped whiptail
- Aspidoscelis labialis (Stejneger, 1890)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". – Baja California whiptail
- Aspidoscelis laredoensis (McKinney, Kay & R. Anderson, 1973)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". – Laredo striped whiptail
- Aspidoscelis lineattissimus (Cope, 1878)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". – many-lined whiptail
- Aspidoscelis marmoratus (Baird & Girard, 1852)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". – marbled whiptail
- Aspidoscelis martyris (Stejneger, 1891)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". – San Pedro Martir whiptail
- Aspidoscelis maslini (Fritts, 1969)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". – Maslin's whiptail
- Aspidoscelis maximus (Cope, 1864)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". – Cape Region whiptail
- Aspidoscelis mexicanus (W. Peters, 1869)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". – Mexican whiptail
- Aspidoscelis motaguae (Sackett, 1941)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". – giant whiptail
- Aspidoscelis neomexicanus (Lowe & Zweifel, 1952)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". – New Mexico whiptail
- Aspidoscelis neotesselatus (Walker, Cordes & H.L. Taylor, 1997)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". – Colorado checkered whiptail, triploid checkered whiptail
- Aspidoscelis opatae (Wright, 1967)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". – Opata whiptail
- Aspidoscelis pai (Wright & Lowe, 1993)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". – Pai striped whiptail
- Aspidoscelis parvisocius (Zweifel, 1960)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". – Mexican pigmy whiptail
- Aspidoscelis pictus (Van Denburgh & Slevin, 1921)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". – Isla Monserrate whiptail
- Aspidoscelis preopatae Barley, Reeder, Nieto-Montes de Oca, Cole & Thomson, 2021Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
- Aspidoscelis rodecki (C.J. McCoy & Maslin, 1962)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". – Rodeck's whiptail
- Aspidoscelis sackii (Wiegmann, 1834)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". – Sack's spotted whiptail
- Aspidoscelis scalaris (Cope, 1892)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". – rusty-rumped whiptail
- Aspidoscelis septemvittatus (Cope, 1892)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". – plateau spotted whiptail
- Aspidoscelis sexlineatus (Linnaeus, 1766)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". – six-lined racerunner
- Aspidoscelis sonorae (Lowe & Wright, 1964)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". – Sonoran spotted whiptail
- Aspidoscelis stictogrammus (Burger, 1950)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". – giant spotted whiptail
- Aspidoscelis tesselatus (Say, 1823)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". – common checkered whiptail
- Aspidoscelis tigris (Baird & Girard, 1852)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". – western whiptail
- Aspidoscelis uniparens (Wright & Lowe, 1965)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". – desert grassland whiptail lizard
- Aspidoscelis velox (Springer, 1928)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". – plateau striped whiptail
- Aspidoscelis xanthonotus (Duellman & Lowe, 1953)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". – red-backed whiptail
Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Aspidoscelis.
Speciation
In 2011, it was announced that a parthenogenetic hybrid Aspidocelis was bred in the laboratory.[4] This serves as a demonstration of how other hybrid parthenogens in this genus may have arisen.
Parthenogenesis and unisexual species
Thirteen species within Aspidoscelis are unisexual, consisting entirely of females that reproduce through parthenogenesis—cloning unfertilized eggs to produce genetically identical offspring.These species originated through hybridization between divergent bisexual ancestral species, with the transition to asexual reproduction occurring in a single generation. This represents the largest group of unisexual vertebrate species known to science.[5]
The unisexual species exhibit varying chromosome numbers reflecting their hybrid origins. Diploid species formed through "primary hybrid speciation" when first-generation female hybrids of two distinct bisexual species began reproducing parthenogenetically. Triploid and tetraploid species arose through "genome addition," when cloned eggs of unisexual females were fertilized by males of bisexual species, resulting in offspring with additional chromosome sets.[5]
This hybridization seesm separated by 15–25 million years of evolution. The parental species combinations have been determined through karyotypic, allozyme, and mitochondrial DNA studies. Early chromosome studies in the 1960s first revealed abnormal chromosome numbers in some unisexual species, indicating genome combinations from divergent species through hybridization.[5]
The unisexual species occur in two main geographic regions: the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, and southern Mexico with eastern Guatemala and Belize. Recent cellular research has revealed that chromosome number and genetic diversity are maintained across generations because identical, duplicated chromosomes pair during meiosis rather than homologous chromosomes.[5]
References
Further reading
- Fitzinger L (1843). Systema Reptilium, Fasciculus Primus, Amblyglossae. Vienna: Braumüller & Seidel. 106 pp. + indices. (Aspidoscelis, new genus, p. 20). (in Latin).
External links
- Reeder, Tod W.; Cole, Charles J.; Dessauer, Herbert C. (2002). "Phylogenetic relationships of whiptail lizards of the genus Cnemidophorus (Squamata, Teiidae) : a test of monophyly, reevaluation of karyotypic evolution, and review of hybrid origins". American Museum Novitates (3365): 1-61. [1]
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- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedEOL - ↑ Genus Aspidocelis at The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
- ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
- ↑ a b c d Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".