PARTHENOGENETIC CNEMIDOPHORUS-TESSELATUS COMPLEX AT HIGBEE, COLORADO - RESOLUTION OF 30 YEARS OF CONTROVERSY

At times over 30 years, various authors have expressed conflicting opi nions on the composition of the parthenogenetic Cnemidophorus tesselat us complex at Higbee, Otero County, Colorado, the only known site of s ympatry between diploid and triploid members of this complex. Recently , some workers have stated that two rather than three distinctive part henogens occur at Higbee, one being an undescribed triploid species (t entatively designated pattern class C), which resulted from hybridizat ion between C. tesselatus D(2n) and gonochoristic C. sexlineatus. Alte rnatively, our study identified two diploid pattern classes [C(2n) and D(2n)] and one triploid pattern class [B(3n)] among specimens of C. t esselatus from Higbee (including those with electrophoretically determ ined ploidy levels). We used two canonical variate analyses (CVA) to t est hypotheses concerning the identity and origin of the triploid form . CVA1 suggested that specimens of the Higbee triploid form represente d C. tesselatus B(3n), not an undescribed species. CVA2 suggested that C. tesselatus B(3n) was derived from a C. tesselatus C(2n) x C. sexli neatus hybrid, not a hybrid involving C. tesselatus D(2n).