Range in California: Red
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Adult, Inyo County |
Adult, Inyo County |
Adult, Inyo County |
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Adult, Inyo County |
Adult, Inyo County |
Adult, Kern County |
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Adult, Kern County |
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Adult from Lassen County southeast of Honey Lake. © Debbie Frost |
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Gravid adult female, Washoe County Nevada |
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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 |
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Habitat |
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Habitat, Inyo County |
Habitat, Inyo County |
Habitat, Kern County |
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Habitat, Modoc County
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Habitat, San Bernardino County |
Dunes habitat during spring wildflower bloom, Imperial County |
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Adult in habitat, Inyo County |
Habitat, Inyo County |
Habitat, San Diego County |
Short Video
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One morning I saw about a dozen leopard lizards basking on asphalt roads in Inyo County. These are a few of them. |
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| 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, typically lying in wait in the shade of a bush where it's dark and light coloring and spots help it to blend in and hide from prey. Typically active from March to October, with a shorter period at colder higher-elevation locations. Hides under rocks, surface objects and in burrows. When threatened sometimes hisses and squeals. It's 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 |
Ranges from northern Baja California and elsewhere in Mexico through California into southeast Oregon and Idaho, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and West Texas. In California, ranges throughout the deserts, from the base of the mountains, including the Great Basin desert east of the Sierra Nevada and along the northeast border with Nevada.
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. |
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Taxonomy |
| Family |
Crotaphytidae |
Collared and Leopard Lizards |
| Genus |
Gambelia |
Leopard Lizards |
Species
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wislizenii |
Long-nosed Leopard Lizard |
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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
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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
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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.
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Related or Similar California Lizards |
Cope's Leopard Lizard - Gambelia copeii
Blunt-nosed Leopard Lizard - Gambelia
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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.
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.
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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) |
None |
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| California Endangered Species Act (CESA) |
None |
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| California Department of Fish and Game |
None |
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| Bureau of Land Management |
None |
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| USDA Forest Service |
None |
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| Natureserve Global Conservation Status Ranks |
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World Conservation Union - IUCN Red List
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