Herpetology Attends Sexy Science Event at the Museum

The KU Herpetology Division was in attendance at last night's Sexy Science event held at the Natural History Museum.  The event, which was very well attended, invited attendees to explore the suggestive side of natural history and hosted representatives from Herpetology as well as Entomology and Ornithology. Matt Buehler, Andressa Bezerra, Manuella Folly, Jackson Leibach and myself were there with a display of reptile and amphibian specimens which typify some of the fascinating reproductive biology in these organisms. For example did you know that some species of lizards are able to clone themselves? That's right. And you might be surprised that they can be found here in our own backyard. The New Mexico whiptail of the American Southwest is one well studied example. The entire species is composed of females which reproduce by cloning themselves. What makes them even more interesting is that the entire species is the result of a hybridization between two closely related species, the little striped whiptail and the western whiptail. This cloning phenomenon may actually occur more frequently that we thought. Species that typically reproduce through sex such as the copperheads, which are quite common around Lawrence, Kansas, have shown they have the ability to clone themselves as well.  Why they do so is still a mystery. A mystery that if solved may tell us something about the evolution of sex in animals.  

Matt Buehler talking to some visitors about reproduction in frogs.

Jackson Leibach pointing out the hemipenes of a reticulated python