The New Mexico whiptail is a species of lizard found in the southern United States in New Mexico and Arizona, and in northern Mexico in Chihuahua. It is the official state reptile of New Mexico. It is one of many lizard species known to be parthenogenic. Individuals of the species can be created either through the hybridization of the little striped whiptail and the tiger whiptail or through the parthenogenic reproduction of an adult New Mexico whiptail.
The hybridization of these species prevents healthy males from forming whereas males do exist in both parent species and parthenogenesis allows the resulting all-female population to reproduce and thus evolve into a unique species capable of reproduction. This combination of interspecific hybridization and parthenogenesis exists as a reproductive strategy in several species of whiptail lizard within the Cnemidophorus genus to which the New Mexico whiptail belongs. They’re known as lesbian lizards.
