Range in California: Red
Click the map for a guide
to the other subspecies.
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Adult, San Diego County, near Baja California border |
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Adult, San Diego County |
Adult, San Diego County
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Juvenile, San Diego County |
Habitat |
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Habitat, San Diego County, near the Baja California border |
Habitat, San Diego County, near the Baja California border |
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Here are more pictures of this lizard and its habitat in Baja California
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| Description |
| Size |
| Adults grow up to 1.7 inches long from snout to vent (4.4 cm). |
| Appearance |
A small thin lizard with soft skin with fine granular scales on most of the body, a head covered with large plates, lidless eyes with vertical pupils, a gular fold, and a detachable tail. Males have enlarged femoral pores.
Color is grayish brown to rusty brown with black spots, which sometimes fuse together to form thin lines. The dark spots on the tail are larger. Sometimes a lizard will be completely unspotted. A narrow beige stripe, edged in black, usually extends from the eye to the shoulder and may extend along the sides of the entire body. The underside is whitish-yellow and made up of large square scales. |
| Behavior and Natural History |
| Not much is known about X. wigginsi in California, or in Baja California. It is certainly diurnal, sedentary, and rarely observed, spending most of its life undercover in and underneath fallen vegetation and debris, and not typically active on the surface away from cover. According to Grismer it is probably active all year long with peaks of activity in the spring and fall. (I have found them in mid December inland from Bahia de Los Angeles in Baja California del Norte.) |
| Diet |
| Eats small invertebrates inhabiting the decaying vegetation in which it lives including ants, termites, beetles, caterpillars, crickets, and spid |
| Reproduction |
| Live-bearing. Usually gives birth to two young during the fall. |
| Range |
| In California, found from Scissors Crossing in San Diego County, south to a location east of Jacumba, and farther south to the Vizcaino region of Baja California del Sur. To confuse matters, X. v. vigilis was also found south of Scissors Crossing in Mason Valley and Little Blair Valley. |
| Habitat |
| Habitat in California is rocky Desert scrub with abundant yucca. |
| Taxonomic Notes |
| Several subspecies of Xantusia vigilis are traditionally recognized, including two in California - X. v. vigilis, and X. v. sierrae - and X. v. wigginsi in Baja California. According to Grismer, 2002, vigilis occurs in the northern part of the Baja peninsula, while wigginsi occurs in the central peninsula. But Leavitt et al, 2007, using nuclear DNA studies, have found two populations of wigginsi in southeastern San Diego county. They also provide support for the recognition of X. wigginsi as a full species. |
| Conservation Issues (Conservation Status) |
| None |
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Taxonomy |
| Family |
Xantusiidae |
Night Lizards |
| Genus |
Xantusia |
Night Lizards |
Species
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wigginsi
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Baja California Night Lizard |
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Original Description |
Xantusia vigilis - Baird, 1858 - Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, Vol. 10, p. 255
from Original Description Citations for the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America.Ellin Beltz, 2003
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Meaning of the Scientific Name |
Xantusia - honors Xantus, John
vigilis - Latin - alert or watchful - possibly refers to the lack of eyelids
wigginsi -
(Most likely named after ? Wiggins by Savage in 1952 when he described this subspecies.)
from Names of the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America Ellin Beltz, 2003
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Alternate Names |
Xantusia vigilis wigginsi
Wiggin's Night Lizard
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Related or Similar California Lizards |
X. henshawi - Granite Night Lizard
X. gracilis - Sandstone Night Lizard
X. sierrae - Sierra Night Lizard
X. vigilis - Yucca Night Lizard
X. r. reticulata - San Clemente Night Lizard
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More Information and References |
Natureserve Explorer
California Dept. of Fish and Game
Grismer, L. Lee. Amphibians and Reptiles of Baja California, Including Its Pacific Islands and the Islands in the Sea of Cortés. The University of California Press, 2002.
McPeak, Ron H. Amphibians and Reptiles of Baja California. Sea Challengers, 2000.
Stebbins, Robert C. A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians. 3rd Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2003.
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.
DEAN H. LEAVITT, ROBERT L. BEZY, KEITH A. CRANDALL, JACK W. SITES JR (2007)
Multi-locus DNA sequence data reveal a history of deep cryptic vicariance and habitat-driven convergence in the desert night lizard Xantusia vigilis species complex (Squamata: Xantusiidae)
Molecular Ecology 16 (21), 4455–4481.
Studies on the Lizard Family Xantusiidae I. The Systematic Status of the Baja California Night Lizards Allied to Xantusia Vigilis, with the Description of a New Subspecies
Jay M. Savage
American Midland Naturalist, Vol. 48, No. 2 (Sep., 1952), pp. 467-479
doi:10.2307/2422261
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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.
This animal is not included on the Special Animals List, most likely because its occurance in California was only recently discovered.
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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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