I'm sure Alexa would like to tell you more about this amazing gecko, but I'm posting a distribution map taken from an article by Craig Moritz (discoverer of parthenogenesis in Heteronotia) which shows where the different sexual lineages and the parthenogenetic lineages occur (soon to be named different species).

The article is worth reading if your are interested in learing more:

Moritz, C. 1991. Coping without sex in the outback. Australian Natural History 23:643-649. (note this journal is now called Nature Australia).

Also very good but more technical is:

Moritz, C. 1993. The origin and evolution of parthenogenesis in the Heteronotia binoei complex: synthesis. Genetica 90:269-280.

By the way, there is one other terrestrial gekkonine genus in Australia, Nactus, which appears to be ecologically similar to Heteronotia and also includes parthenogenetic lineages (N. arnouxii). Other pathenogenetic geckos are Hemidactylus garnoti and Lepidodactylus lubugris. We also have a recently discovered parthenogenetic skink in Australia, Menetia greyii.

Michael

>Do the sexual and parthenogenetic populations exist in the same area?
>Will the parthenogenetic females breed (successfully or otherwise)
>with males from the sexual populations?

Heteronotia complex distribution.doc





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Michael Kearney
School of Biological Sciences 
Building A08 
University of Sydney 
NSW, AUSTRALIA, 2006

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