Range in California: Red
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Adult male, Inyo County |
Adult male, Inyo County |
Adult male defensive display, Inyo County |
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Adult male, Inyo County |
Adult male, Inyo County |
Adult male, Inyo County |
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Juvenile, San Bernardino County |
Adult, Inyo County |
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Adult male, Antelope Valley, Los Angeles County © Todd Battey |
Breeding colors on gravid adult female, Inyo County |
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Adult female, Inyo County
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Adult Male cloacal region, showing femoral pores, Imperial County
© Patrick Briggs |
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Adult male, Washoe County, Nevada
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Adult male, Washoe County, Nevada |
Habitat, San Bernardino County |
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Adult female with breeding coloration, 6,000 ft., Inyo County. © Ceal Klingler |
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Habitat |
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Habitat, Inyo County |
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Habitat, San Bernardino County |
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Habitat, Inyo Mountains, Inyo County |
Habitat, Washoe County, Nevada |
Habitat, Westgard Pass,
Inyo County
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Short Video |
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Two juvenile Great Basin Collared Lizards in the Mohave Desert. |
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| Description |
| Size |
| 2.5 - 4 3/8 inches long (8.6 - 11.2 cm) excluding tail. The tail is often twice the length of the body. |
| Appearance |
A large lizard with a broad-head, a narrow-neck with a pair of black bands, large rear legs, and a long thick tail. Often described as looking like a small "dinosaur".
Color above is brown to olive with many small white spots and dashes and brown or reddish-orange crossbands. These crossbands are more pronounced on males. Females are not as brightly-colored as males, except when breeding when they develop reddish-orange bars and spots on the neck and body.
Two black bands on the neck with a white band inbetween them create the "collar" for which this lizard is named.
Often the black bands are edged with two more light bands. The black band coloring continues onto the underside of the throat on males, covering the throat and much of the chin. The throats and chins of females lack this dark coloring. Males also have a broader head than females
The underside is mostly white. Males have two black patches on the underside near the groin.
The tail is flattened slightly vertically, with brown spots on the sides. A light stripe on top of the tail is usually present on males, and absent on females. |
| Behavior |
Active in daytime. Very tolerant of heat.
Often seen basking conspicuously on top of small rocks, but not a great climber, avoiding very large boulders and cliffs.
Forages for food on the ground, usually near rock piles.
Retreats into a hole or burrow when threatened. May become bipedal when running quickly; raising up to run only on the hind legs.
Males become aggressive and very territorial in the breeding season. The are more approachable at this time, as they tend to stand their ground on top of a rock, often raising up on their legs, bobbing up and down, and extending a blue and black throat dewlap in a threat display (which may also be attractive to females).
When handled, this lizard is capable of biting very hard, and drawing blood with its strong jaws. |
| Diet |
| Eats insects, spiders, small lizards, including horned lizards, small snakes, leaves and flowers. |
| Reproduction |
| Breeds in the spring, lays eggs in the summer. |
| Range |
In California, found in the Great Basin desert in the far northeast and east of the Sierras, throughout the Mojave Desert west to near the Grapevine, and in the Sonoran Desert north and east of the Imperial Valley.
Also recorded in Kernville in the southern Sierras and at scattered locations just south of the desert in the San Gabriel and San Bernardino Mountains, including the headwaters of the East Fork of the San Gabriel River, the North Fork of Lytle Creek and San Antonio Wash north of San Gorgonio Pass.
Ranges north through most of Nevada to extreme southeast Oregon and southern Idaho, and south through western Utah and northern and western Arizona. Isolated populations in eastern Idaho and Utah.
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| Habitat |
| Prefers arid rocky hilly deserts with sparse vegetation, but sometimes found in areas with few rocks. |
| Taxonomic Notes |
| Formerly known as Great Basin Collared Lizard - Crotaphytus insularis bicinctores, a subspecies of Crotaphytus insularis, the Desert Collared Lizard, before the species was split into C. bicinctores and C. vestigium - Baja California Black-collared Lizard. |
| Conservation Issues (Conservation Status) |
| None. |
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Taxonomy |
| Family |
Crotaphytidae |
Collared and Leopard Lizards |
| Genus |
Crotaphytus |
Collared Lizards |
Species
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bicinctores |
Great Basin Collared Lizard |
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Original Description |
Smith and Tanner, 1972 - Great Basin Nat., Vol. 32, p. 27
from Original Description Citations for the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America © Ellin Beltz
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Meaning of the Scientific Name |
Crotaphytus - Greek - krotaphos side or temple of the head - refers to the presence of small polygonal plates on the whole surface of the head.
bicinctores - Latin - bi two and cinctus banded or girdled - refers to the presence of two black bands on neck and shoulder region.
from Scientific and Common Names of the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America - Explained © Ellin Beltz
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Alternate Names |
Mojave Black-collared Lizard
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Related or Similar California Lizards |
Crotaphytus vestigium - Baja California Black-Collared Lizard
Gambelia wislizenii - Long-nosed Leopard Lizard
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More Information and References |
Natureserve Explorer
California Dept. of Fish and Game
Collared Lizards
Crazy Crotaphytus - A web site dedicated to Collared Lizards
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.
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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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