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Northern Side-blotched Lizard
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- Order: Squamata (scaled reptiles)
- Suborder: Lacertilia (=Sauria) (lizards)
- Family: Iguanidae (iguanid lizards)
- Subfamily: Phrynosomatinae (spiny and horned
lizards)
- Genus: Uta (side-blotched lizards)
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| Also Known As Uta
(pronounced "oota") |
Scientific Name: Uta stansburiana
stansburiana Baird & Girard, 1852 |
| Habitat: Deserts and
scrubland. |
Uta=state of Utah, stansburiana in
honor of expeditionary surveyor Howard S. Stansbury who collected
the first specimen.
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| Length: 6+ inches total |
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| Food: Insects. |
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These small lizards are very common, seen
scampering around hunting for prey and trying not to get
eaten--they're a food source for many animals in the desert
including Roadrunners and other lizards. When frightened, they
retreat into rocky crevices or into bushes. I found one at night
sleeping in a sagebrush. I assume they sleep up off the ground to
avoid being eaten by the many lizard-eating snakes that prowl the
desert night. These lizards also readily autotomize (drop) their
tails. This is a last resort to avoid being eaten. The dropped
tail wiggles for a few minutes after separating, to distract the
predator while the lizard makes its getaway. I saw several of
these lizards running around with only stumps of their tails left.
The tails will regenerate, but will not look as nice or be as long
as the original. |
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| This specimen was observed at
Calico I, Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, Nevada, on
05 April 2000 between 10 and 11 o'clock a.m. Pacific Daylight
Time. He is shedding a little bit of skin around his back
legs. I saw many more specimens, both male and female, at
elevations up to 4300 feet. |
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| Compare this specimen to the one
I found in New Mexico and the ones I
found in California. |
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