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?

Two clonal lineages, each comprising multiple generations of unisexual A. exsanguis, were produced in the laboratory from two lizards that were collected at the same locality in the field. Based on 10 meristic and four additional characters, we assessed morphological scores and relative variation as follows: (1) between the two laboratory lineages; (2) between these lineages pooled and samples of A. exsanguis and the bisexual (gonochoristic) A. inornata from the field; and (3) between field samples of the clonal lizards and A. inornata from a nearby locality. The two lineages differed significantly in the means and variances of two univariate characters and the two most informative multivariate characters. Contrary to expectations, the pooled sample of cloned laboratory lineages of A. exsanguis were as variable as the bisexual species in all 10 univariate characters and four important multivariate characters.