|
Baja Collared Lizard
|
- Order: Squamata (scaled reptiles)
- Suborder: Lacertilia (=Sauria) (lizards)
- Family: Iguanidae (iguanid lizards)
- Subfamily: Crotaphytinae (collared and leopard
lizards)
- Genus: Crotaphytus (collared lizards)
|
Also known as: escorpion
(Spanish for "scorpion," a common term for lizards) |
Scientific Name: Crotaphytus
vestigium Smith and Tanner, 1972 |
Habitat: Rocky areas
with sparse vegetation. |
krotaphos="temples/sides of
head," phyton="creature," vestigium="footstep/trace"
|
Length: To 13 inches total. |
Former Scientific Name:
Crotaphytus insularis vestigium |
Food: Insects and
other lizards. |
|
I found this lizard in Palm Canyon, Anza-Borrego
State Park. It was pretty emaciated--perhaps the lack of
recent rain fall had kept food supplies to a minimum. |
|
In this picture, it is easy to
make out the pelvic girdle between the hind legs. In a
well-fed lizard, this woud not be evident. Also, notice the
dorsolateral compression of the tail (narrower than it is
tall--not rounded like that of the eastern
collared lizard, Crotaphytus collaris). |
|
When I moved in closer, the
lizard took refuge under its basking rock.
Collared lizards are known for their ferocity--eating other
lizards among other things, as well as their ability to run on
their hind legs. |
|
|
|
|
|