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Aspidoscelis exsanguis (LOWE, 1956)

IUCN Red List - Aspidoscelis exsanguis - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaTeiidae, Teiinae, Gymnophthalmoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Chihuahuan Spotted Whiptail
S: Corredora de Chihuahua 
SynonymCnemidophorus sacki exsanguis LOWE 1956
Cnemidophorus sacki exsanguis — MASLIN 1959
Cnemidophorus costatus exsanguis — MASLIN 1962: 212 (part.)
Cnemidophorus exsanguis — STEBBINS 1985: 157
Cnemidophorus exsanguis — MASLIN & SECOY 1986
Cnemidophorus exsanguis — CONANT & COLLINS 1991: 120
Cnemidophorus exsanguis — LINER 1994
Aspidoscelis exsanguis — REEDER et al. 2002
Aspidoscelis exsanguis — COOPER et al. 2005
Aspidoscelis exsanguis — COLLINS & TAGGART 2009
Aspidoscelis neavesi COLE, TAYLOR, BAUMANN & BAUMANN 2014 (part) 
DistributionUSA (SE Arizona, New Mexico, SW Texas, Colorado),
Mexico (N Chihuahua, NE Sonora); elevation 760-2440 m.

Type locality: “Socorro, Socorro County, New Mexico”.  
ReproductionOviparous. This species originated through hybridization involving 3 species: C. inornatus, C. septemvittatus, and C. costatus (fide STEBBINS 1985). Parthenogenetic species. Lutes et al. (2011) report the generation of four self-sustaining clonal lineages of a tetraploid species resulting from fertilization of triploid oocytes from a parthenogenetic Aspidoscelis exsanguis with haploid sperm from Aspidoscelis inornata.<br><br>Aspidoscelis neavesi is a parthenogenetic, synthetic organism that originated through hybridization between Aspidoscelis exsanguis (triploid parthenogen) x Aspidoscelis inornata (diploid bisexual or gonochoristic species) in the laboratory. Given that it is a synthetic organism that did not evolve naturally, we do not list it as valid species for the time being, a decision supported by the scientific advisory board of the database. 
TypesHolotype: UAZ, University of Arizona, UAA 16188 (formerly Unlverslty of California, Los Angeles, Dept. of Zoology 3737), collected by Richard Zweifel and Kenneth S. norris, 10 Aug 1948.
Holotype. MCZ R-192219 (5 SIMR 8093), a cloned adult female of the F2 laboratory reared generation that also cloned herself at the SIMR. She hatched on August 13, 2008, and her mother was MCZ R-192209 (=SIMR 4919) [neavesi] 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: “At Conchas Lake it was possible to collect four whiptail lizard species (A. exsanguis, A. neomexicanus, A. sexlineatus, and A. tesselatus [pattern classes C and D]) and hybrids of A. neomexicanus × A. sexlineatus. Among these, A. exsanguis at all sizes could be distinguished from all of these species by either one or a combination of the five scale characters included in Appendix 1 (i.e., anterior extent of circumorbitals, enlarged mesoptychials, plate-like postantebrachials, usually two preanals, and paravertebral separation = PVSS). The most readily applied of these would be either the enlarged postantebrachial scales which distinguished A. exsanguis of all sizes or the PVSS (i.e., narrow spacing of the paravertebral stripes (i.e., mean 4.7 ± 0.20, range 3–8, N = 31) and absence of either a vertebral stripe or a continuous vertebral configuration.” (Fig. 3, Manning et al. 2020).


Additional details (3104 characters) are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentBefore LOWE described Cnemidophorus sacki exsanguis, specimens of it have been assigned to Cnemidophorus gularis, C. sexlineatus, or C. sackii. 
EtymologyThe name exsanguis (Latin, “without blood”), referes to the distinct difference between this species and C. burti stictogrammus, with which it was formerly inlcuded. 
References
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  • Cole, Charles J.; Harry L. Taylor, and Carol R. Townsend 2015. Morphological Variation in a Unisexual Whiptail Lizard (Aspidoscelis exsanguis) and One of Its Bisexual Parental Species (Aspidoscelis inornata) (Reptilia: Squamata: Teiidae): Is the Clonal Species Less Variable? American Museum Novitates 3849: 1-20 [Feb 2016] - get paper here
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