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Adult male, Riverside County |
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Adult, Riverside County |
Adult, Riverside County |
Adult, Riverside County |
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Two adults basking on a dune in the morning, Riverside County |
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Fringes on toes of rear foot |
Adult male (top) and adult female (right), Riverside County © Patrick Briggs |
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Cloacal study of adult male (left) and female (right) © Patrick Briggs |
Sign at Coachella Preserve,
Riverside County |
Fringe-toed Lizard footprints. |
Habitat |
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Habitat, wind-blown sand dunes, Riverside County |
This Nature Conservancy preserve was formerly named the Coachella Valley Fringe-toed Lizard Preserve. Large sand dunes can be seen in the distance. |
Habitat, wind-blown sand dunes, Riverside County |
Short Videos |
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Watch a Mojave Fringe-toed lizard bury itself in the sand to hide. This lizard was captive and sluggish and buries itself slowly and incompletely. In the wild a lizard runs quickly then dissapears in a flash as it dives into the sand.
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Watch a Mojave Fringe-toed llizard run quickly over the sand to escape. It almost escaped the camera... |
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| Description |
| Size |
| 2 3/4 - 4 7/8 inches long from snout to vent (7 - 12.4 cm). (Stebbins 2003) The tail is about the same length as the body. |
| Appearance |
A medium-sized, flat-bodied, smooth-skinned lizard that inhabits areas of loose sand. Color is white, with a contrasting pattern of broken black lengthwise lines and round, eye-like spots. The color and pattern create a successful camouflage which allows a lizard to blend into its sandy habitat.
The underside is pale with black bars on the underside of the tail. Males have a small dot or group of dots on the sides of the belly (or no markings at all), pale streaks on the throat, and enlarged postanal scales. During the breeding season males develop a pinkish wash on the sides of the belly, and under the tail, and reddish colors around the eyes. Breeding females develop bright orange coloring. |
| Behavior and Natural History |
Diurnal. Adapted to living in areas with fine windblown sand. A fringe of scales on the sides of the toes help this lizard run quickly over fine sand, preventing them from sinking, similar to the effect of wearing snowshoes. Scales are granular and very small, which helps a lizard bury itself quickly in fine sand. A countersunk lower jaw, eyelids that overlap, flaps over the ears, and nostrils and nasal passages which work like valves, all prevent sand from getting into a lizard's orifices and lungs.
Takes cover in the sand to avoid extreme temperatures. Commonly sleeps in the sand under a bush at night. The parietal eye, an eye-like structure on top of the head, is thought to help this lizard monitor the amount of solar radiation it receives to help it avoid too much or too little heat. On waking in the morning, a lizard often basks with just the head above the sand until its body temperature warms sufficiently to allow it to unbury the entire body and continue basking or begin activity.
Goes underground in the sand or in a burrow in November, and emerges in February. Young lizards may go under later and emerge earlier.
When scared, this lizard will run very quickly on its hind legs to the opposite side of a bush or a small sand hill, and run into a burrow or dive into the sand. Sometimes they will stop and freeze underneath a bush. |
| Diet |
| Eats primarily small invertebrates such as ants, beetles, and grasshoppers, along with occasional blossoms, leaves, and seeds. The consumption of plant material may inadvertently occur when a lizard is eating insects. Adults will also eat lizard hatchlings. |
| Reproduction |
| Breeding takes place from March through May. Clutches of 2 - 4 eggs are laid from April to September. Young emerge from June to early October. |
| Range |
| Endemic to California. Restricted to sandy areas in the Coachella Valley of Riverside County from near sea level to 1,600 ft. (490m). |
| Habitat |
| Sparsely-vegetated arid areas with fine wind-blown sand, including dunes, washes, and flats with sandy hummocks formed around the bases of vegetation. Needs fine, loose sand for burrowing. |
| Taxonomic Notes |
| Tre´panier and Murphy (2001) determined that 5 species of Uma inhabit the U.S.: Uma scoparia, Uma inornata, Uma notata, Uma rufopunctata, and an unnamed species from the Mohawk Dunes in Arizona. |
| Conservation Issues (Conservation Status) |
| Protected by the state. Approximately 75 - 90 percent of its habitat has been destroyed due to urban and agricultural development, off-road vehicle use, windbreaks, exotic vegetation, and other disruptions to the formation of the wind-blown sand drifts this lizard requires. Several preserves and refuges have been created to protect much of the remaining habitat. |
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Taxonomy |
| Family |
Phrynosomatidae |
Zebra-tailed, Earless, Fringe-toed, Spiny, Tree, Side-blotched, and Horned Lizards |
| Genus |
Uma |
Fringe-toed Lizards |
Species
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inornata |
Coachella Valley Fringe-toed Lizard |
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Original Description |
Uma notata inornata - Cope, 1895 - Amer. Nat., Vol. 29, p. 93
from Original Description Citations for the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America © Ellin Beltz
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Meaning of the Scientific Name |
Uma - Yuma Native American group - possibly referring to its location in AZ
inornata - Latin - not marked (probably referring to the lack of strong marking on the underside of the male, when compared to other Uma species.)
from Scientific and Common Names of the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America - Explained © Ellin Beltz
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Alternate Names |
None
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Related or Similar California Lizards |
U. notata - Colorado Desert Fringe-toed Lizard
U. scoparia - Mojave Fringe-toed Lizard
C. d. rhodostictus - Western Zebra-tailed 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.
Thelander, Carl G., editor in chief. Life on the Edge - A Guide to California's Endangered Natural Resources - Wildlife. Berkeley: Bio Systems Books, 1994.
The Coachella Valley Fringe-Toed Lizard (Uma inornata): Genetic Diversity and Phylogenetic Relationships of an Endangered Species Tanya L. Tre´panier and Robert W. Murphy
Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution Vol. 18, No. 3, March, pp. 327–334, 2001
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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.
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Organization
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Status Listing
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| U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) |
FT |
Threatened |
| California Endangered Species Act (CESA) |
SE |
Endangered |
| 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 |
G1Q S1 |
Critically Imperiled |
World Conservation Union - IUCN Red List
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IUCN:EN |
Endangered |
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