California Reptiles & Amphibians

Callisaurus draconoides rhodostictus - Western Zebra-tailed Lizard

Click on a picture for a larger view

Range in California: Red

Adult female, San Diego County

Adult male, San Diego County

Adult male from dark lava flow area, San Bernardino County

Adult female, Kern County

Juvenile, Kern County

Adult male, San Diego County
© Bruce Edley

Adult male, San Bernardino County
© Brad Alexander

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 female, San Diego County
This close-up shows the fringed protective scales around the eyes, the third eye on top of the head, and the ear on side of the head behind the eye.

Underside of adult male, San Diego County © Bruce Edley

Adult male, Kern County © Todd Battey

Habitat

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

This video shows several views of zebra-tailed lizards from the Colorado Desert, waving their striped tails to divert attention away from their main body, running off quickly, and doing the territorial push-up display.

One early afternoon during a summer cold front in the Mohave Desert, I was able to get close to several zebra-tailed lizards and follow them around as they moved relatively slowly for these speed demons.

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. 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.

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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