New Mexico's official state reptile is parthenogenic.

[sl8]

Granted, as a playground taunt it isn't quite as catchy as "your mother wears combat boots" (has anyone ever actually said that non-ironically?), but I found it interesting.


From Wikipedia, https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Mexico_whiptail :

New Mexico whiptail

This article includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations.



Three species of whiptail: little striped whiptail, (A. inornatus), New Mexico whiptail (A. neomexicanus) and western whiptail (A. tigris).


The New Mexico whiptail (Aspidoscelis neomexicanus) is a female-only species of lizard found in the southwestern United States in New Mexico and Arizona, and in northern Mexico in Chihuahua. It is the official state reptile of New Mexico.[1] 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 (A. inornatus) and the western whiptail (A. tigris),[2] or through the parthenogenic reproduction of an adult New Mexico whiptail.

The hybridization of these species prevents healthy males from forming, whereas males exist in both parent species (see Sexual differentiation). 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 genus Aspidoscelis to which the New Mexico whiptail belongs.

[...]

More at link.

[Kali]

1. a few years ago there was some kind of whiptail hanging around the front door area

that had a bifurcated tail. I have a crappy picture somewhere, but too lazy to look (and as I said it was crappy)