California Reptiles & Amphibians

Callisaurus draconoides rhodostictus - Western Zebra-tailed Lizard



Click on a picture for a larger view




Range in California: Red




Adult, San Diego County
Adult female, Kern County
Juvenile, Kern County
Adult male from dark lava flow area, San Bernardino County
Adult male in threat display, Clark County Nevada © David Walton
Adult male, Inyo County.
Zebra-tailed lizards are very tolerant of extreme heat. The air temperature was 100 degrees F. when this lizard was seen out in the sun. The temperature of the rock was 130 degrees F.
Adult male, Kern County
© John Stephenson
Underside of adult male, San Diego County © Bruce Edley
Adult male, Kern County © Todd Battey
Adult male, San Diego County
© Bruce Edley
Adult, San Diego County
Adult male, San Bernardino County
© Brad Alexander
Habitat, sandy wash, San Diego County


Habitat, sandy wash during a good spring wildflower bloom (1998), Riverside County

Habitat, Kern County
Habitat, windblown sand and sandy wash, San Bernardino County


Habitat, lava flow, San Bernardino County
Habitat, rocky wash, Inyo County
Short Video
   
Several views of zebra-tailed lizards waving their striped tails to divert attention away from their main body, running off quickly, and doing the territorial push-up display.
Description
Size
2.5 - 4 inches from snout to vent (6 - 10 cm), up to almost 9 inches including tail.
Appearance
A pale thin lizard with very long legs and a long flat tail with black crossbars. Scales are granular.
Gray or light brown above with light spots and paired dark blotches, which are more distinct on females. As with many lizards, the coloring is darker during lower temperatures, and lighter with very high temperatures.
Dark crossbars or bands on the tail become very distinct black and white underneath This black and white zebra-like pattern gives this lizard its name.
There is pale yellow and orange coloring on the sides and the center of the throat often has a pink or orange spot.
Males have two dark bars and develop a patch of blue-green coloring on the sides of the mid belly during the breeding season, which is visible when viewed from the side. Dark belly markings are faint or absent on females.
Behavior
Diurnal. Tolerant of high temperatures. Often seen basking on rocks, even on extremely hot afternoons.
Capable of running very fast (possibly the fastest lizard in the desert) facilitated by long legs and streamlined body. After speeding away, this lizard sometimes stops far ahead in the open, but it will also run to the far side of a bush, out of view, or into a bush or burrow for protection. Before running, a lizard may curl the tail up towards the back, exposing the black and white bars, and wag it nervously wag, then continue this behavior while running and after stopping. This tail display tactic concentrates a predator's attention on the tail, which, if attacked and broken off, can grow back.
A countersunk lower jaw makes it easier for this lizard to burrow into loose or sandy soil to rest.
Diet
Small invertebrates such as insects and spiders, small lizards, occasional plant material.
Reproduction
Mates in Spring, lays eggs June - August.
Range
In California, this lizard inhabits the Mojave and Colorado Deserts up to the desert slopes of the Peninsular and Transverse Mountains, and from the Owens Valley north along the eastern edge of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Found on the coastal slopes of the mountains at San Jacinto Wash and Cajon Wash. Ranges outside California north into northern Nevada, east into extreme southwest Utah, south through Arizona and extreme southwest New Mexico, to Baja California and the west coast of Mexico.
Habitat
Open sandy desert washes, desert pavement, and hard pan, with scant widely-spaced vegetation and open areas. Sometimes found in wind-blown sand dunes near hard-packed ground.
Taxonomic Notes
Subspecies of Callisaurus draconoides are not universally recognized. Many herpetologists recognize three occuring in the United States - C. d. rhodostictus, C. d. myurus - Northern Zebra-tailed Lizard, and C. d. ventralis - Eastern (or Arizona) Zebra-tailed Lizard. Others classify this lizard as Callisaurus draconoides draconoides - Common Zebra-tailed Lizard.

Taxonomy
Family Phrynosomatidae  
Genus Callisaurus Zebra-tailed Lizards
Species draconoides Zebra-tailed Lizard
Subspecies


rhodostictus Western Zebra-tailed Lizard
Original Description
Callisaurus draconoides - Blainville, 1835 - Nouv. Ann. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris, Vol. 4, p. 286, pl. 24, fig. 2
Callisaurus draconoides rhodostictus - Cope, 1896 - Amer. Nat., Vol. 30, p. 1049

from Original Description Citations for the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America © Ellin Beltz

Meaning of the Scientific Name
Callisaurus - Greek kalos beautiful and saurus lizard - "we have given the name Callisaurus to indicate the extreme beauty of this little animal."
draconoides
- Greek draco dragon and -eidos similarity to a - the species of true dragons
rhodostictus - Greek rhodon - rose, red color and Greek stiktos - dotted or dappled

from Scientific and Common Names of the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America - Explained © Ellin Beltz

Alternate Names
Mojave Zebratail Lizard

Common Gridiron-tailed Lizard

Callisaurus draconoides draconoides - Common Zebra-tailed Lizard

Related or Similar California Lizards
Uma notata - Colorado Desert Zebra-tailed Lizard
Uma inornata - Coachella Valley Zebra-tailed Lizard
Uma scoparia - Mojave Zebra-tailed Lizard

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.

Smith, Hobart M. Handbook of Lizards, Lizards of the United States and of Canada. Cornell University Press, 1946.
Conservation Status

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.



Organization
Status Listing
U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA)
California Endangered Species Act (CESA)
California Department of Fish and Game
Bureau of Land Management
USDA Forest Service
Natureserve Global Conservation Status Ranks
World Conservation Union - IUCN Red List






 

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