A Guide to the Amphibians
and Reptiles of California

Crotaphytus bicinctores - Great Basin Collared Lizard

Click on a picture for a larger view

Range in California: Red

iPhone App
Electronic Field Guide to the
Reptiles and Amphibians of
Southern California
Available Now at the
iTunes App Store.

Adult male, Washoe County, Nevada

Adult male, Inyo County

Adult male defensive display, Inyo County

Adult male, Inyo County

Adult, Inyo County

Juvenile, Inyo county

Juvenile, San Bernardino County

Breeding colors on gravid adult female, Inyo County

Adult male, Antelope Valley, Los Angeles County © Todd Battey

Adult, Inyo County
© 2005 Jeremiah Easter

Adult female, Inyo County

Adult male, San Bernardino County
© Guntram Deichsel

Adult female, Inyo county

Adult male, Inyo county

Adult female with breeding coloration, 6,000 ft., Inyo County. © Ceal Klingler

Adult Male, Imperial County
© Patrick Briggs

Adult Male, Inyo County
© Patrick Briggs

Juvenile, San Bernardino County
© Filip Tkaczyk

Collared Lizards in lava rock habitat tend to have dark coloring to match the dark rocks, as you can see on this adult from San Bernardino County. © Filip Tkaczyk

Adult male, Washoe County, Nevada

Juvenile, Washoe County, Nevada

Adult Male cloacal region, showing femoral pores, Imperial County
© Patrick Briggs

Adult male, Washoe County, Nevada

Habitat

Habitat, Inyo County

Habitat, San Bernardino County

Habitat, Inyo County

Habitat, Inyo Mountains, Inyo County

Habitat, San Bernardino County

Habitat, Westgard Pass,
Inyo County

Short Videos

On a sunny day with an air temperature of 91 degrees and rock temperatures so hot I couldn't lean my hand on them for support, a collared lizard lets me and the camera get so close to it that I can reach out and touch it on the back. This confuses the lizard but he doesn't run off until after I do it a second time. No need to use a noose when you can get this close.

A big male collared lizard lets me follow him around closely from rock to rock.

A posing collared lizard gets photobombed by a guy in a silly hat then runs away in disgust. I don't blame him.

Two juvenile Great Basin Collared Lizards in the Mohave Desert.

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 "North fork of Lytle Creek, San Antonio Canyon, headwaters of E. Fork of San Gabriel River, San Antonio Wash near where N. Fork of San Antonio R. enters main wash." (Stebbins 2003) the headwaters

Beyond California the species 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 occur in eastern Idaho and Utah.

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.

Taxonomy
Family	Crotaphytidae	Collared and Leopard Lizards
Genus	Crotaphytus	Collared Lizards
Species	bicinctores	Great Basin Collared Lizard
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
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
Alternate Names
Mojave Black-collared Lizard
Related or Similar California Lizards
Crotaphytus vestigium - Baja California Black-Collared Lizard Gambelia wislizenii - Long-nosed Leopard Lizard
More Information and References
Natureserve Explorer California Dept. of Fish and Game Stebbins, Robert C., and McGinnis, Samuel M. Field Guide to Amphibians and Reptiles of California: Revised Edition (California Natural History Guides) University of California Press, 2012. Stebbins, Robert C. California Amphibians and Reptiles. The University of California Press, 1972. Stebbins, Robert C. A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians. 3rd Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2003. Behler, John L., and F. Wayne King. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Reptiles and Amphibians. Alfred A. Knopf, 1992. Powell, Robert., Joseph T. Collins, and Errol D. Hooper Jr. A Key to Amphibians and Reptiles of the Continental United States and Canada. The University Press of Kansas, 1998.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.

Conservation Status
The following status listings come from the Special Animals List which is published by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. This animal is not included on the Special Animals List, which indicates that there are no significant conservation concerns for it in California.
Organization	Status Listing
U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA)	None
California Endangered Species Act (CESA)	None
California Department of Fish and Wildlife	None
Bureau of Land Management	None
USDA Forest Service	None
Natureserve Global Conservation Status Ranks
World Conservation Union - IUCN Red List

Return to the Top