Harry L. Taylor, Anthony J. Wilmes, Chad E. Montgomery, Lauren J. Livo, James M. Walker
The Southwestern Naturalist 62 (3), 179-186, (1 September 2017) https://doi.org/10.1894/0038-4909-62.3.179
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.