Day 5 of Arizona backyard photography.
We had lunch at a botanical park in Tucson today, unfortunately we didn’t have time to go through beyond the plants they had out front. I managed to catch some butterflies and a lizard and was remarkably able to at least hazard educated guesses about the butterflies. Thankfully the plants were labeled so no problem there.
I had a hard time figuring out which whiptail lizard I saw as there was no exact or near match picture that I could find. Interestingly enough, some whiptail species found in the southwest are all female. They reproduce via parthenogenesis (parthenos = Greek for virgin and genesis = Greek for birth) which means they do not need a mate in order to reproduce. One of the “benefits” of sexual reproduction is in the mixing of genes which allows for adaptation and protection from genetic diseases. However, asexual/clonal reproduction can allow for rapid population growth, among other “benefits”. I put benefits in quotes because there is some subjectivity as to what are considered benefits within the scientific community. The linked article has some interesting information about the topic as well as current research. Some of it is rather complex if you’ve not studied methods of reproductions, but it seems that these species are products of hybridization which has given them increased genetic diversity to begin with. I find biology to be absolutely fascinating in the myriad of ways there seem to be to overcome adversity in the environment and is why it’s important to maintain species diversity.
phototerrascientia 