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New Mexico whiptail lizard: Difference between revisions
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No external fertilization occurs! Previously reptile researchers believed that the unfertilized eggs and hatchlings were clones of their mothers [3]. However, this has now been disproven. The internal self- fertilization that does occur, does NOT produce perfect offspring clones . Recent research by doctoral student Aracely Lutes at Baumann Lab demonstrated that the New Mexico Whiptail lizard produces two times the number of chromosomes as other types of Whiptail lizards which mate normally. Lutes reports that , this occurrence is the result of a " process of recombination of these chromosomes then occurs, somewhat similar to what happens in normal male/female pairings, which then produces genetically diverse offspring." [1] | No external fertilization occurs! Previously reptile researchers believed that the unfertilized eggs and hatchlings were clones of their mothers [3]. However, this has now been disproven. The internal self- fertilization that does occur, does NOT produce perfect offspring clones . Recent research by doctoral student Aracely Lutes at Baumann Lab demonstrated that the New Mexico Whiptail lizard produces two times the number of chromosomes as other types of Whiptail lizards which mate normally. Lutes reports that , this occurrence is the result of a " process of recombination of these chromosomes then occurs, somewhat similar to what happens in normal male/female pairings, which then produces genetically diverse offspring." [1] | ||
These lizards are created by a hybridization of the western whiptail (which lives in the desert) and the little striped whiptail (a grasslands lizard). Generally, crossbred species (like the mule) are typically sterile. However, the New Mexico Whiptail reproduces by a complex series of events (discussed above that appear like cloning) where it's eggs require no fertilization, and its offspring are nearly a genetic duplicate of the mother [1]. | |||
