California Reptiles & Amphibians

Gambelia wislizenii - Long-nosed Leopard Lizard

Click on a picture for a larger view

Range in California: Red

Adult, Inyo County

Adult, Kern County

Juvenile, Kern County
© Brad Alexander

Adult, Modoc County
© 2005 William Flaxington

Gravid female, San Bernardino County
© Brad Alexander

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

Male, Inyo County
© Patrick Briggs

Female, Inyo County
© Patrick Briggs

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

Adult, Inyo County

Gravid adult female, Washoe County Nevada

Nose length comparisons

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

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

© Patrick Briggs

Habitat

Habitat, Inyo County

Habitat, San Diego County

Habitat, Kern County

Habitat, Modoc County

Habitat, San Bernardino County

Dunes habitat during spring wildflower bloom, Imperial County

Adult in habitat, Inyo County

Habitat, Inyo County

Short Video

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

Description

Size

3.25 - 5.75 inches long from snout to vent (8.2 - 14.6 cm).

Appearance

A large lizard with a large head, a rounded body, well-developed limbs, granular scales, and a long rounded tail.

Light and dark phases: when in light phase, the ground color is gray, brown, or yellowish with many dark markings. In 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 when gravid.

Behavior

Hide under rocks, surface objects and burrows. When threatened sometimes hisses and squeals.

Diet

Invertebrates, including crickets, grasshoppers, beetles, caterpillers, bees, and spiders, small rodents, lizards, and leaves and flowers. An ambush predator, typically lies in wait in the shade of a bush.

Reproduction

Eggs are laid from March to July.

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 in the extreme northeast corner.

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

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. 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.

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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