Aspidoscelis is a taxonomic genus of whiptail lizards in Teiidae. It contains both sexually reproducing species and all-female lineages that reproduce by parthenogenesis. This variation makes a closely related set of animals useful for studying how reproduction and chromosome organization interact.[ref]
Sister chromosome pairing maintains heterozygosity in parthenogenetic lizards by Aracely A. Lutes and others. Abstract, sexual and parthenogenetic whiptails
In a 2011 experiment, researchers crossed a triploid parthenogenetic female lineage with males of a sexually reproducing lineage. The resulting four-copy hybrid offspring were checked with molecular and chromosome measurements. Some female offspring themselves reproduced by parthenogenesis, establishing laboratory lineages able to reproduce without repeating the original cross.[ref]
Laboratory synthesis of an independently reproducing vertebrate species by Aracely A. Lutes and others. Abstract and Results, tetraploid hybrids and independent reproduction
A chromosome-set calculation clarifies the change: an unreduced egg carrying three sets can combine with a sperm carrying one set to make a four-set offspring, . This is tetraploidy, rather than merely four copies of one selected gene. Producing one viable hybrid is also different from demonstrating that its descendants can reproduce. The experiment tested both steps, linking the immediate effects of a cross to the persistence of a new reproductive lineage.
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