Range in California: Green
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Adult, Inyo County |
Adult male, Inyo County |
Adult, Inyo County |
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Adult Male, Inyo County |
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Adult male, Inyo County |
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Adult male, Inyo County |
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Adult male, Inyo County |
Adult male, Inyo County |
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Adult male, Inyo County |
Adult male, Inyo County |
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Adult male, Inyo County |
Adult male, Inyo County |
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The side blotch |
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Habitat |
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Habitat, Modoc County sagebrush desert |
Habitat, Inyo County high desert |
Habitat, sagebrush desert, Inyo County |
Short Videos |
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Nevada Side-blotched Lizards from the sagebrush desert of northern Inyo County. |
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| Description |
| Size |
| 1.5 - 2.5 inches long from snout to vent (3.8 - 6.3 cm). (Stebbins 2003) |
| Appearance |
A small brownish gray lizard with small smooth granular scales on the back, larger scales on the head and limbs, a gular fold, a long thin tail and a dark blue-black mark on the sides of the chest behind the front limbs, which gives this lizard its name. This mark is sometimes faint or absent.
Color is brown, gray, yellowish, or black, with dark blotches, spots, and sometimes stripes. Often there is a double row of dark spots or wedges on the back, edged with white on the rear. The underside is whitish to gray and mostly unmarked. The throat is mottled with dark and light. This subspecies is characterized by its reduced, often uniform pattern consisting of mostly scattered light and dark spotting.
Males are more colorful than females, having blue speckles on the upper surfaces, which are most visible during the light phase. Northern lizards sometimes develop orange on the throat and belly. Males also have a swollen tail base and enlarged postanals, but no distinct blue coloring on the belly (which can be found on male lizards of many other species.) The throat is marked with blue, orange, or yellow.
Females are blotched on top with brown and white, often with stripes, and have a less well-defined blotch on the sides. They have no blue speckling, and no color on the throat. |
| Behavior and Natural History |
The most abundant and commonly-seen lizard in the deserts and semi-arid areas. Diurnal. Usually the first lizard species out in the morning due to its small size which allows it to warm up quickly. It is active mostly on the ground, but a good climber. Often seen basking on rocks, hopping from boulder to boulder, or running quickly along the ground.
Active much of the year whenever the temperature is warm. Inactive during winter and during cold weather.
Males use a push-up display to display their territory. Often this lizard can be approached closely, since it relies on crypsis as a defence against predation, but when frightened it runs quickly into a burrow, under a surface object, or under vegetation. The tail is often broken off when a lizard is captured, but it will grow back with time. This lizard is short-lived, living only about one year.
Some fascinating discoveries have been made recently that show cooperative behavior with this species. Males have blue, orange, and yellow color morphs. The orange males are aggressive and territorial and mate with many different females. Yellow males do not defend territories, they sneak past territorial males to mate. Blue males guard their mates, chasing off the yellow males, but they are run off when confronted by orange males. Blue males also cooperate with neighboring blue males to protect their respective mates from the orange and yellow males, and their breeding is much more successful when they do so. You can read more about Male Uta cooperation and throat colors here. |
| Diet |
| Eats small invertebrates such as beetles, grasshoppers, ants, spiders, scorpions and ticks. |
| Reproduction |
| Mates mostly in the spring. 1 - 7 clutches of 1 - 8 eggs are laid from March to August. (Stebbins 2003) Females store sperm to fertilize eggs at a later time. Juveniles hatch from June to September, and breed the following spring. |
| Range |
| In California, this species is found east of the Sierra Nevada Mountains and in the far northeastern corner of the state, corresponding the the Great Basin desert portions of the state. Its range outside California continues into northwestern Nevada, southwestern Idaho, easter Oregon, and mid central Washington. The species as a whole ranges west through most of California south of the Bay Area, east into west Texas, and south into Mexico, including all of Baja California. |
| Habitat |
Prefers open rocky areas with scattered vegetation, including the edges of sandy washes. Utilizes a wide variety of habitats, including hardpan, sandy, rocky, and loamy areas grown with sagebrush, scattered trees, grass, and shrubs.
From below sea level to around 9,000 ft. (2,700 m). (Stebbins 2003) |
| Taxonomic Notes |
The taxonomy of this widespread and variable species has been disputed. Some experts do not recognize any subspecies of Uta stansburiana pending further studies that will provide more clarification about this species (which may include several different species).
Three subspecies of Uta stansburiana are sometimes shown occuring in California, including U. s. stansburiana -
Northern Side-blotched Lizard, which is shown to range east of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in Inyo and Mono counties.
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| 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 |
Uta |
Side-blotched Lizards |
| Species |
stansburiana |
Common side-blotched lizard |
Subspecies
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nevadensis |
Nevada side-blotched Lizard |
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Original Description |
Uta stansburiana - Baird and Girard, 1852 - Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, Vol. 6, p. 69
Uta stansburiana nevadensis - Ruthven, 1915 - Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, Vol. 26, p. 27, fig. 1
from Original Description Citations for the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America © Ellin Beltz
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Meaning of the Scientific Name |
Uta - state of Utah - refers to the region where it was first discovered.
stansburiana - honors Stansbury, Howard S.
nevadensis - belonging to the state of Nevada - probably refers to the type locality.
from Scientific and Common Names of the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America - Explained © Ellin Beltz
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Alternate Names |
Uta stansburiana - Common Side-blotched Lizard (no subspecies recognized.)
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Related or Similar California Lizards |
U. s. elegans - Western Side-blotched Lizard
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More Information and References |
NatureServe Explorer
USGS
Male Uta cooperation and throat colors
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.
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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.
There are no significant conservation concerns for this animal 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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