 Range in California: Red
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Adult female, Riverside County |
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Adult female, Riverside County |
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Adult male territorial display,
San Diego County |
Adult female, San Diego County |
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Adult male, San Diego County |
Adult male, San Diego County |
Adult male, female, and juvenile Riverside County © Patrick Briggs |
Habitat |
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Habitat, San Diego County |
Habitat, Riverside County |
Habitat, Imperial County |
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Habitat, San Diego County desert
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Habitat, Riverside County |
Habitat, coastal San Diego County |
| Description |
| Size |
| 3 1/4 - 4 5/8 inches long from snout to vent (8.2 - 11.7 cm). (Stebbins 2003) Up to nearly 11 inches in total length. |
| Appearance |
A large, dark, lizard with large pointed keeled scales, a triangular dark wedge on the sides of the neck, and dark bands across the body. Often these crossbands are not visible when a lizard is in its dark phase and the body color matches the bands. Scales are more stronly keeled on the tail, giving it a more prickly appearance.
Color is a dark rusty coppery brown to nearly black.
Young lizards have a rusty head and conspicuous bands and neck markings.
Males have blue on the throat and belly, and yellow and blue markings on the back along with a wide purple stripe on the back. Males also have enlarged femoral pores and a swollen tail base.
Females have more distinct crossbands than males and no blue and purple coloring above or below. |
| Behavior & Natural History |
Diurnal. Typically seen basking on large granite boulders. An excellent climber. Active from spring to fall, sheltering in cracks in rocks or under surface cover, and remaining inactive during winter.
This lizard can be very conspicous when basking on light granite boulders, but it is very wary and capable of running quickly away from danger, often to the other side of a large rock. Usually bites when captured. |
| Diet |
| Eats small invertebrates, small lizards, and occasionally fruits and flowers. |
| Reproduction |
| Mates in March and April. A clutch of 6 - 15 eggs is laid from May to July. Eggs hatch from July to October. |
| Range |
| Ranges from the northern side of San Gorgonio Pass south along the lower slopes of the Peninsular ranges into Baja California where it ranges almost to the cape. Found on the desert slopes of the mountains where there is sufficient plant cover, and on the coastal side inland to near the coast and north to the Santa Ana River. |
| Habitat |
Inhabits areas with large boulders and granite cliffs with mixed vegetation, including chaparral, mesquite, pine and oak, and palms.
From sea level to near 7,000 ft. (2,100 m). (Lemm 2006) |
| Conservation Issues (Conservation Status) |
| None. |
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Taxonomy |
| Family |
Phrynosomatidae |
Zebra-tailed, Earless, Fringe-toed, Spiny, Tree, Side-blotched, and Horned Lizards |
| Genus |
Sceloporus |
Spiny Lizards |
Species
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orcutti |
Granite Spiny Lizard |
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Original Description |
Sceloporus orcutti - Stejneger, 1893 - N. Amer. Fauna, No. 7, p. 181, pl. 1, figs. 4a-c
from Original Description Citations for the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America © Ellin Beltz
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Meaning of the Scientific Name |
Sceloporus - Greek -skelos leg and porus - pore or opening - refers to the femoral pores on hind legs
orcutti - honors Orcutt, Charles R.
from Scientific and Common Names of the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America - Explained © Ellin Beltz
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Alternate Names |
Bluebelly
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Related or Similar California Lizards |
S. magister uniformis - Yellow-backed Spiny Lizard
S. occidentalis longipes - Great Basin Fence 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.
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.
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.
Lemm, Jeffrey. Field Guide to Amphibians and Reptiles of the San Diego Region (California Natural History Guides). University of California Press, 2006.
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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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Range in California: Red 
