A Guide to the Amphibians
and Reptiles of California

Urosaurus graciosus - Long-tailed Brush Lizard

Click on a picture for a larger view

Range in California: Red

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Adult, San Diego County, found sleeping on a creosote bush at night.

Adult, Imperial County

Adult male, Imperial County

Adult female in dark phase, Imperial County

Adult male, Imperial County

Adult, Imperial County

Adult male, Imperial County

Adult female, Imperial County

Adult, Imperial County

Adult in a typical setting inside a creosote bush, Imperial County.

Adult, eastern Riverside County
© Geoff Fangerow

Juvenile, Imperial County.

While chasing a lizard in the dunes, I spotted another lizard on top of a dead tumbleweed apparently basking in the 95 degree heat. It turned out to be a long-tailed brush lizard that looked like it had taken up residence in the bush since there were no large creosote or other bushes within about 10 meters. I suppose the good bushes are taken by the adults and the juveniles have to take what they can get. When I got too close for comfort, the lizard descended down into the tumbleweed.

Adult, Yuma County, Arizona

Back scales - There is a wide band of large scales down the middle of the back. Compare with Urosaurus ornatus

This Long-tailed Brush Lizard fell prey to a Roadrunner in San Diego County

Habitat

Habitat, sand dunes, Imperial County

Habitat, with Creosote bush,
Riverside County

Habitat, dead Creosote bush, Imperial County

Habitat next to Colorado River,
Yuma County, Arizona

Habitat, Imperial County

Short Videos

We slowly move up to and into the middle of a Creosote bush to find a Long-tailed Brush Lizard on a branch resting motionless and relying on its camouflage to stay hidden.

A Long-tailed Brush Lizard moves along a branch.

Description

Size

1 7/8 - 2 3/5 inches long from snout to vent (4.7 - 6.6 cm). (Stebbins 2003)

Appearance

A small lizard with a very long thin tail, up to twice the length of the body that is stongly associated with shrubs and trees. Scales are small, but there is a wide band of distinctly larger keeled scales down the middle of the back. A distinct gular fold across the throat. There may be a light stripe along the side.

Color is grayish, light brown, or beige with faint dark irregular crossbars on the back. Able to quickly change from dark to light phase to match it's habitat. (I took a dark gray lizard off a gray branch and put it on the light sand where it turned to a sandy color in only a few minutes.)

Males have enlarged postanal scales, and a pale belly with green or bluish patches flecked with white on each side of the belly, and an orange or yellowish patch on the throat. Females have a pale unmarked belly, and may also have orange or yellow on the throat.

Behavior & Natural History

Diurnal. Tolerant of high heat (more so than Urosaurus ornatus). Active from March through fall. Often found basking on lower branches in the morning. Spends the night in burrows under a shrub or in the sand or at the tips of branches.

Relies on its cryptic coloring to act as camouflage as it lies still on a branch with the body and tail aligned with a branch. When spotted, it will quickly turn to the other side of a branch to hide from a predator, or run into a root tangle or burrow. Occasionally seen foraging on the ground and on roads at night.

Diet

Eats small invertebrates and occasionally some plant material.

Reproduction

Mates in the spring. 1 or 2 clutches of 2 - 10 eggs are laid underground from May to July. Eggs hatch in about two months, with young appearing from July to September.

Range

Inhabits the Colorado and Mojave deserts from the slopes east and north of the mountains, east into southwest and southcentral Arizona, southern Nevada and extreme southwestern Utah, and south into Baja California and Sonora, Mexico.

Habitat

Capable of living in hot areas with sparse vegetation. Found in the desert in areas where there are patches of loose sand and scattered bushes and trees, including creosote, salt bush, cat's claw, smoke tree, and mesquite. Favors creosote bushes with large exposed roots. From below sea level to around 3,500 ft. (1,070 m).

Taxonomic Notes

At one time two subspecies of Urosaurus graciosus were recognized, but the subspecies with more prominent dorsal markings found in southcentral Arizona is no longer recognized.

Conservation Issues (Conservation Status)

None.

Taxonomy
Family	Phrynosomatidae	Zebra-tailed, Earless, Fringe-toed, Spiny, Tree, Side-blotched, and Horned Lizards
Genus	Urosaurus	Tree & Brush Lizards
Species	graciosus	Long-tailed Brush Lizard
Original Description
Urosaurus graciosus - Hallowell, 1854 - Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, Vol. 7, p. 92 from Original Description Citations for the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America © Ellin Beltz
Meaning of the Scientific Name
Urosaurus - Greek - oura - tail and saurus - lizard graciosus - Latin - gracilis slender, thin and -osus - full of - referring to the narrow head and long tail from Scientific and Common Names of the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America - Explained © Ellin Beltz
Alternate Names
Formerly Urosaurus graciosus graciosus - Western Long-tailed Brush Lizard Brush Lizard
Related or Similar California Lizards
U. nigricaudus - Baja California Brush Lizard U. o. symmetricus - Colorado River Tree Lizard
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. Lemm, Jeffrey. Field Guide to Amphibians and Reptiles of the San Diego Region (California Natural History Guides). University of California Press, 2006.

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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