Range in California: Red
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Adult, San Diego County |
Adult female, Kern County |
Juvenile, Kern County |
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Adult male from dark lava flow area, San Bernardino County |
Adult male in threat display, Clark County Nevada © David Walton |
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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. |
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Underside of adult male, San Diego County © Bruce Edley |
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Adult, San Diego County |
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Habitat, sandy wash, San Diego County
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Habitat, sandy wash during a good spring wildflower bloom (1998), Riverside County
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Habitat, Kern County |
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Habitat, windblown sand and sandy wash, San Bernardino County
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Habitat, lava flow, San Bernardino County |
Habitat, rocky wash, Inyo County |
Short Video
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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. |
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Taxonomy |
| Family |
Phrynosomatidae |
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| Genus |
Callisaurus |
Zebra-tailed Lizards |
| Species |
draconoides |
Zebra-tailed Lizard |
Subspecies
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rhodostictus |
Western Zebra-tailed Lizard |
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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
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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
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Alternate Names |
Mojave Zebratail Lizard
Common Gridiron-tailed Lizard
Callisaurus draconoides draconoides - Common Zebra-tailed Lizard
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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
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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.
Smith, Hobart M. Handbook of Lizards, Lizards of the United States and of Canada. Cornell University Press, 1946.
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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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