 Range in California: Red
Click the map for a guide
to the other subspecies
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Adult, Inyo County |
Adult, Inyo County |
Adult, Inyo County |
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Adult, San Diego County |
Adult, San Diego County |
Adult, San Diego County |
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Juvenile, Washoe Co., Nevada |
Adult, Kern County |
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| These pictures of a freshly road-killed Imperial County adult serve as a good illustration of this lizard's large belly scales, very long taill, and pale throat. |
Adult, San Diego County |
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Roadrunners prey on whiptails and other lizards. This one has caught a Desert Grassland Whiptail in Arizona. |
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Habitat |
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Habitat, San Diego County |
Habitat, Inyo County |
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Habitat, Riverside County
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Habitat, San Bernardino County |
Habitat during Spring wildflower bloom, San Diego County |
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Habitat, rocky wash, Inyo County |
Habitat, Kern County
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Habitat, San Bernardino County |
Short Videos |
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Two Great Basin Whiptails forage along the ground and on a rock outcrop with their characteristic slow and jerky movement.
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Views of a couple of Great Basin Whiptails in the desert. |
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| Description |
| Size |
| Aspidoscelis tigris as a species is 2 3/8 - 5 inches inches long snout to vent (6 - 12.7 cm), up to around 13 inches (33 cm) total length. |
| Appearance |
Slim-bodied with a long slender tail, a thin snout, and large symmetrical head plates.
The back and sides are grey, tan, or brown, marked with dark spots or bars or mottling, which is often very sharply defined. Dark marks on the sides often form vertical bars. Usually 4 faint light stripes are present along the back. These stripes fade with age.
The belly is made of large, smooth, rectangular scales in 8 lengthwise rows. Often there are reddish patches on the sides of the belly. The throat is pale with with obscure black spots.
Scales on the back are small and granular, and scales on the tail are keeled.
The tail can reach up to two times the length of the body. The tail tip is dark or bluish, and bright blue on juveniles. Juveniles have fairly well-defined stripes.
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| Behavior |
| Diurnal. Wary and very active, moving with abrupt stops and starts, side-to-side head movement, and tongue flicking. Often seen digging rapidly when foraging. Difficult to approach - typically foraging near cover, and capable of quick bursts of speed into heavy brush or holes. |
| Diet |
| Small invertebrates, especially spiders, scorpions, centipedes, and termites, and small lizards. |
| Reproduction |
| Eggs are laid from April to August and hatch in about a month and a half. |
| Range |
In California, this subspecies ranges from the Great Basin deserts in the north - the Honey Lake Basin and the Surprise Valley - east of the Sierras into the Mojave and Colorado Deserts.
The species (Aspidoscelis tigris) ranges from Northcentral Oregon and southern Idaho, south through California and Nevada to Baja California, and east into Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, and west Texas. Sea level to 7,000 ft. (2,130 m). |
| Habitat |
| Found in a variety of ecosystems, primarily hot and dry open areas with sparse foliage - deserts, chaparral, sagebrush, woodland, and riparian areas. Avoids areas with dense growth. |
| Taxonomic Notes |
| Formerly placed in the genus Cnemidophorus. |
| Conservation Issues (Conservation Status) |
| None |
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Taxonomy |
| Family |
Teiidae |
Whiptails and Racerunners |
| Genus |
Aspidoscelis |
Whiptails (formerly Cnemidophorus) |
| Species |
tigris |
Tiger Whiptail |
Subspecies
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tigris |
Great Basin Whiptail |
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Original Description |
(Cnemidophorus tigris - Baird and Girard, 1852 - Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, Vol. 6, p. 69)
from Original Description Citations for the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America © Ellin Beltz
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Meaning of the Scientific Name |
(Cnemidophorus - Gr. knemidos greaves and Gr. phoros wearing - refers to the large scales on forelegs)
Aspidoscelis - shield leg
tigris - Latin - of a tiger - refers to the dorsal pattern
from Scientific and Common Names of the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America - Explained © Ellin Beltz
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Alternate Names |
Formerly placed in the Genus Cnemidophorus
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Related or Similar California Lizards |
California Whiptail - A. t. munda
Coastal Whiptail - A. t. stejnegeri
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More Information and References |
Natureserve Explorer
California Dept. of Fish and Game
Stebbins, Robert C. A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians. 3rd Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2003.
Behler, John L., & F. Wayne King. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Reptiles and Amphibians. Alfred A. Knopf, 1992.
Bartlett, R. D. & Patricia P. Bartlett. Guide and Reference to the Turtles and Lizards of Western North America (North of Mexico) and Hawaii. University Press of Florida, 2009.
Jones, Lawrence, Rob Lovich, editors. Lizards of the American Southwest: A Photographic Field Guide. Rio Nuevo Publishers, 2009.
Smith, Hobart M. Handbook of Lizards, Lizards of the United States and of Canada. Cornell University Press, 1946.
Brown et. al. Reptiles of Washington and Oregon. Seattle Audubon Society,1995.
Nussbaum, R. A., E. D. Brodie Jr., and R. M. Storm. Amphibians and Reptiles of the Pacific Northwest. Moscow,
Idaho: University Press of Idaho, 1983.
St. John, Alan D. Reptiles of the Northwest: Alaska to California; Rockies to the Coast. Lone Pine Publishing, 2002.
Brennan, Thomas C., and Andrew T. Holycross. Amphibians and Reptiles in Arizona. Arizona Game and Fish Department, 2006.
Degenhardt, William G., Charles W. Painter, & Andrew H. Price. Amphibians and Reptiles of New Mexico. University of New Mexico Press, 1996.
Williamson, Michael A., Paul W. Hyder, & John S. Applegarth. Snakes, Lizards, Turtles, Frogs, Toads & Salamanders of New Mexico. Sunstone Press, 1994.
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The following status listings come from the Special Animals List which is published several times each year by the California Department of Fish and Game.
This animal is not included on the Special Animals List, which indicates that there are no significant conservation concerns for it in California.
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Organization
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Status Listing
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| U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) |
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| California Endangered Species Act (CESA) |
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| California Department of Fish and Game |
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| Bureau of Land Management |
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| USDA Forest Service |
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| Natureserve Global Conservation Status Ranks |
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World Conservation Union - IUCN Red List
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Range in California: Red 
