A Guide to the Amphibians
and Reptiles of California

Gambelia wislizenii - Long-nosed Leopard Lizard

Click on a picture for a larger view

Range in California: Red

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Adult, Imperial County

Adult, Inyo County

Adult, Lassen County

Adult, Modoc County
© 2005 William Flaxington

Subadult, Inyo County

Adult, Kern County

Adult, Inyo County

Adult, Kern County

Adult, Inyo County

Adult, Kern County

Adult from Lassen County southeast of Honey Lake. © Debbie Frost

Adult, Washoe County, Nevada

Gambelia Nose Comparisons

Top - Blunt-nosed Leopard Lizard -
Gambelia sila (Adult, Kings County)

Bottom - Long-nosed Leopard Lizard -
Gambelia wislizenii (Adult, Inyo County)

© Patrick Briggs

Breeding Adults

Gravid female, San Bernardino County
© Brad Alexander

Adult male and female mating, June, Kern County © Brad Alexander

Male (left) Female (right) Inyo County
© Patrick Briggs

Gravid adult female, Washoe County Nevada

Female, Inyo County
© Patrick Briggs

Adult female with breeding color,
Inyo County

Juveniles

Juvenile, Washoe County, Nevada

Juvenile, Kern County
© Brad Alexander

Juvenile, Kern County

Habitat

Habitat, Inyo County

Habitat, Kern County

Habitat, Modoc County

Adult in habitat, Inyo County

Habitat, San Bernardino County

Dunes habitat during spring wildflower bloom, Imperial County

Habitat, Inyo County

Habitat, San Diego County

Habitat, Great Basin desert,
4,000 ft., Lassen County

Short Videos

Stalking a leopard lizard from the lizard's-eye-view.

A leopard lizard slowly wriggles its long tail as if using it as a lure. Or maybe it's a nervous behavior.

A large adult leopard lizard is noosed around the waist then released where it was found in some low sand dunes in Imperial County.

A sub-adult leopard lizard lets the camera get close on a road in the morning in Inyo County.

One morning I saw a dozen leopard lizards basking on asphalt roads in Inyo County. These are a few of them.

Leopard lizards in the Nevada desert.

An adult leopard lizard runs across a road in Lassen County.

A tiny juvenile leopard lizard is caught with a noose. As it is being photographed, a large Yellow-backed Spiny Lizard runs up and grabs it, dragging it and the noose away, until I scare it off. The baby lizard is put back on its basking rock until it revives enough to run under a bush.

Description

Size

3.25 - 5.75 inches long from snout to vent (8.2 - 14.6 cm). Males are a bit smaller than females.

Appearance

A large lizard with a large head, a rounded body, well-developed limbs, granular scales, and a long rounded tail, which can be more than twice the body length.

Has light and dark color phases: when in the light phase, the ground color is gray, brown, or yellowish with many dark markings. In the dark phase, the color is mostly brown with light spots and light crossbars. The underside is pale, with gray markings on the throat.

Juveniles have more highly contrasted markings than adults, often with rusty coloring on the back or bright red spots.

Females develop reddish orange spots and bars on the sides and underneath the tail during the breeding season. These colors develop shortly before ovulation and persist until eggs are layed. Males do not develop reddish pigmentation during the breeding season.

Behavior and Natural History

A fast diurnal ambush predator that typically lies in wait in the dappled shadows under a bush where the lizard's dark and light markings help it to avoid the attention of its prey. Typically active from March to October, with a shorter activity period at colder higher-elevation locations. Hides under rocks, surface objects and in burrows. When threatened sometimes hisses and squeals. Its strong jaws are capable of delivering a painful bite.

Diet

Omnivorous: Eats invertebrates, including crickets, grasshoppers, beetles, caterpillers, bees, and spiders, along with small rodents, small snakes, lizards, leaves, berries, and flowers. Eat lizards near its own size, and of its own species.

Reproduction

Eggs are laid from March to July. Females develop reddish coloring during the breeding season.

Range

In California, this species ranges throughout the deserts, from the eastern base of the Peninsular and the northern edge of the Transverse mountains,into the Great Basin desert east of the Sierra Nevada and along the extreme northeastern border with Nevada.

Beyond California it ranges widely in extreme northeastern Baja California, southeast Oregon, southern Idaho, most of Nevada, western, southern, and part southeastern Utah, much of western and southern Arizona, parts of New Mexico, and West Texas, and along the western coast of Sonora Mexico, and along northcentral Mexico south of Texas.

According to Stebbins (2003) an old record shows that this species was once present at Gavilan Peak near Riverside, which is on the coastal side of the transverse and peninsular ranges, and a good distance from desert localities.

Habitat

Arid and semiarid plains with sagebrush, creosote, grass, and other low scattered vegetation. Prefers flat areas with open space for running, avoiding densely vegetated areas. From near Sea Level to around 6,000 ft. (1,830 m.)

Taxonomic Notes

There is evidence that at one time G. sila hybridized with G. wislizenii in the upper Cuyama drainage in Ventura Co, but there is no evidence that there is any current contact between the two species, or if they can hybridize now. Much of the hybrid zone habitat has been degraded, and it appears that these hybrids have been eliminated. (Stebbins 2003.)

Before they were synonymized in 1996, ( McGuire (1996 Bulletin of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History 32: iv + 143 pp.) several subspecies of Gambelia wislizenii were once recognized.

Taxonomy
Family	Crotaphytidae	Collared and Leopard Lizards
Genus	Gambelia	Leopard Lizards
Species	wislizenii	Long-nosed Leopard Lizard
Original Description
(Baird and Girard, 1852) - Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, Vol. 67, p. 69 from Original Description Citations for the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America © Ellin Beltz
Meaning of the Scientific Name
Gambelia - honors Gambel, William wislizenii - honors Wislizenius, F.A. from Scientific and Common Names of the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America - Explained © Ellin Beltz
Alternate Names
Formerly, as many as 5 subspecies of Gambelia wislizenii were recognized, 3 in our area: G. w. wislizenii - Large-spotted Leopard Lizard; G. w. copei - Cope's Leopard Lizard; G. w. maculosus - Lahontan Basin Leopard Lizard.
Related or Similar California Lizards
Cope's Leopard Lizard - Gambelia copeii Blunt-nosed Leopard Lizard - Gambelia
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. Grismer, L. Lee. Amphibians and Reptiles of Baja California, Including Its Pacific Islands and the Islands in the Sea of Cortés. The University of California Press, 2002. McPeak, Ron H. Amphibians and Reptiles of Baja California. Sea Challengers, 2000.

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

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