If interbreeding is necessary to describe a species, wouldn't each
individual lizard lineage be a single species?  Something to ponder and add
to the confusion.
 
Peter
 
At 11:00 AM 10/2/98 -0600, Tom Eichhorst wrote:
>Emilio,
>
>I am not familiar with "ring species."  Sounds interesting.  But to throw
more
>confusion into this mess, we have in New Mexico six (or eight, I can't
remember)
>species of racerunner lizards.  The neat thing about them is they are ALL
FEMALE.  No
>hybrids here!!  They reproduce through parthenogenisis and each female
passes on all of
>her genes to her daughter, no males necessary, thanks.  They have cut
their evolution
>chances way down but as long as they fit the habitat they are allright.
Also no chance
>for inter-species or x-species mating - or for that matter, no chance for
intra-species
>mating.  This stuff gets wilder and wilder.  Maybe I need to go back to
school (as
>Sarah suggested a while back).
>
>See ya,
>
>Tom Eichhorst in New Mexico, USA
>
>Emilio Jose Power wrote:
>
>> Tom and other Conch-L,
>>
>>         I love your example of a supposed population of cichlids. That
is a perfect
>> example of what people refer to as a ring species. The classic example of a
>> ring species is a lizard (or skink, i dont remember) and have the exact
>> characteristics you speak about. The species is found in the rocky mtns.
 :-)
>>
>> Emilio