Fieldherper.com » desert grassland whiptail http://fieldherper.com By Bryan D. Hughes, Future Darwin-Award Winner Tue, 07 Feb 2012 04:21:32 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.4 Desert Grassland Whiptail http://fieldherper.com/2009/07/03/desert-grassland-whiptail/ http://fieldherper.com/2009/07/03/desert-grassland-whiptail/#comments Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:44:59 +0000 Bryan http://fieldherper.com/fieldherper/?p=722 I had to follow this little Desert Grassland Whiptail, Aspidoscelis uniparens, around for 15 minutes before it would hold still long enough to get a quick photo. Like a lot of whiptails I encounter, it didn’t much mind my presence, and felt just fine continuing to root around in the soft soil looking for small insects.

As the species name may suggest, uniparens, this species is entirely female; each baby being a perfect clone of the parent. This of course also renders them unable to change with their habitat or adapt to new challenges, ultimately leading to the demise of the species.

Desert Grassland Whiptail
Desert Grassland Whiptail

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