Awesome Animal - Texas Spotted Whiptail

We visited one of our daughters and her family in Texas recently. While waiting outside of a social security office for our daughter to take care of something, I spotted this lizard hunting for insects next to the sidewalk. About ten inches long including the tail, this is a Texas spotted whiptail. They are extremely fast-running lizards and they roam around, darting this way and that, as they hunt for insects. Despite their diminutive size, whiptails can run up to 17 miles per hour (27 kph).

Whiptails feed in the heat of the day, often when the temperatures are over 100 degrees F (38 C). 

Interestingly, the Texas spotted whiptail has contributed (by mating with other whiptail species) to producing two hybrid whiptail species that only have females. You read that correctly... the Chihuahuan spotted whiptail and Laredo striped whiptail species do not have any males at all. These all-female species reproduce by a natural form of cloning called parthenogenesis. Without mating with a male, the female lays fertile eggs, which hatch as clones of the mother.

It gets even stranger. Even though these females do not mate with males, they still go through a false mating ritual with other females, physically mounting and pretending to mate. Why? Because this act releases their internal hormones, triggering their production of one to five eggs, each containing a clone of the mother.

Photo Credit:
Texas spotted whiptail - Stan C. Smith