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1 September 2017 Recent northward range expansion of the parthenogenetic lizard Aspidoscelis tesselatus in Colorado and the distributional enigma posed by pattern-classes C and D at the northern range periphery
Harry L. Taylor, Anthony J. Wilmes, Chad E. Montgomery, Lauren J. Livo, James M. Walker
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Abstract

The range of the parthenogenetic lizard Aspidoscelis tesselatus extends from eastern Chihuahua, Mexico, to southeastern Colorado, USA. In Colorado, pattern-class D, source of the neotype of the species, is syntopic with the more widely distributed pattern-class C only in Ninemile Valley of the Purgatoire River, beyond which, in all directions, these pattern classes are allopatric. We identify a recent northward range expansion of pattern-class C to the same northern latitude attained by pattern-class D, thereby establishing a latitudinal baseline for the species. The two northern arrays of pattern-class C, reported herein, occupied open habitats of sparsely distributed shrubs on rocky slopes, whereas the northernmost arrays of pattern-class D were using juniper woodland. Although this allopatric arrangement suggests ecological segregation of pattern classes, we provide an example of pattern-class C in juniper woodland only ca. 11 km south of the new records, which suggests that other factors could be involved.

Harry L. Taylor, Anthony J. Wilmes, Chad E. Montgomery, Lauren J. Livo, and James M. Walker "Recent northward range expansion of the parthenogenetic lizard Aspidoscelis tesselatus in Colorado and the distributional enigma posed by pattern-classes C and D at the northern range periphery," The Southwestern Naturalist 62(3), 179-186, (1 September 2017). https://doi.org/10.1894/0038-4909-62.3.179
Received: 11 October 2016; Accepted: 1 June 2017; Published: 1 September 2017
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