CaliforniaHerps.com

A Guide to the Amphibians
and Reptiles of California




Tiger Whiptail - Aspidoscelis tigris

California Whiptail - Aspidoscelis tigris munda

(Camp, 1916)

(= Cnemidophorus tigris mundus)

Click on a picture for a larger view
Tiger Whiptails California Range Map
Orange: Range of this subspecies in California
Aspidoscelis tigris munda - California Whiptail

Range of other subspecies in California:

Dark Blue: Range of Aspidoscelis tigris stejnegeri -
San Diegan Tiger Whiptail


Red: Range of Aspidoscelis tigris tigris -
Great Basin Whiptail



Click on the map for a topographical view

Map with California County Names





observation link





California Whiptail
Adult, Contra Costa County
California Whiptail
Adult, Santa Clara County © Yuval Helfman
California Whiptail California Whiptail California Whiptail California Whiptail
Adult, Contra Costa County Adult, Contra Costa County, with some unshedded skin still attached. Adult, Fresno County
California Whiptail California Whiptail California Whiptail California Whiptail
  Adult, Contra Costa County   Adult, San Benito County
California Whiptail California Whiptail California Whiptail California Whiptail
Adult, Sutter County © Jackson Shedd Adult, northern Santa Clara County
© George Chrisman
Adult, Santa Barbara County
© Jennifer Cox
Adult, Solano County © Adam G. Clause
California Whiptail California Whiptail California Whiptail California Whiptail
Adult, northern Ventura County
(in potential intergrade zone with
A. t. stejnegeri
) © Patrick Briggs
Adult, Kings County
© Patrick Briggs
Adult, Tulare County © Patrick Briggs
California Whiptail California Whiptail California Whiptail California Whiptail
Adult from North Fork Feather River Canyon near Rock Creek in
Plumas County at about 2300 ft.  © Railfan
Adult, Butte County © Kurt Geiger Adult, southern Santa Clara County
© John Worden
California Whiptail California Whiptail California Whiptail California Whiptail
Adult, Monterey County © Bo Zaremba Adult, Orange County © Tadd Kraft This adult was observed just above the Pacific Coast highway in extreme southern Monterey County less than a quarter of a mile from the ocean.
© Joel A. Germond
California Whiptail California Whiptail California Whiptail California Whiptail
Adult interesting dark pattern on the back,
San Luis Obispo County © Joel A. Germond
Adult, San Luis Obispo County © Dave Beller
California Whiptail California Whiptail
Adult, San Benito County © Yuval Helfman Adult, Santa Clara County © Yuval Helfman
California Whiptail California Whiptail California Whiptail
Adult, Santa Clara County © Wim de Groot Adult, Santa Clara County, showing the very long toes on the hind feet
© Wim de Groot
Adult at burrow, Santa Clara County
© Yuval Helfman
California Whiptail California Whiptail California Whiptail
Adult with re-generating tail, from San Luis Obispo, San Luis Obispo County
© Joel A. Germond
Adult, Alameda County
© Faris K
Adult, Santa Clara County © Yuval Helfman
Whiptail Whiptail Whiptail tracks Great Basin Collared Lizard
Tiger Whiptails, Aspidoscelis tigris, have a transparent lower eyelid which you can see on the picture on the right where the eyelid is closed. Tiger Whiptail Tracks in sand Whiptails, genus Aspidoscelis, have small granular dorsal scales.
       
Juveniles
California Whiptail California Whiptail California Whiptail California Whiptail
  Juvenile, Bakersfield, Kern County  
California Whiptail California Whiptail California Whiptail  
Juvenile with some stripes, Lake County This juvenile California Whiptail was observed in Santa Barbara County eating a small leathery egg, possibly a lizard or snake egg. The whiptail worked the egg around in its mouth for quite awhile, then spat it out half deflated, flicked its tongue out for awhile, then picked it back up, and swallowed it completely. © E. Sergeant  
       
California Whiptail Defecation
California Whiptail California Whiptail California Whiptail California Whiptail
California Whiptail California Whiptail California Whiptail California Whiptail
This is a series of pictures showing how a California Whiptail defecates. (Viewed sequentially from top row left to right, then bottom row left to right.)
The white part is a solid plug of uric acid, which is followed by the darker feces. © Wim de Groot
       
Habitat
California Whiptail Habitat California Whiptail Habitat California Whiptail Habitat California Legless Lizard Habitat
Habitat, Contra Costa County Habitat, Contra Costa County Habitat, San Joaquin County
Habitat, Kern County
California Whiptail Habitat San Joaquin Coachwhip Habitat California Whiptail Habitat California Whiptail Habitat
Habitat, Riverside County Habitat, San Joaquin County Habitat, Fresno County
Habitat, Contra Costa County
California Whiptail Habitat San Joaquin Coachwhip Habitat San Joaquin Coachwhip Habitat California Whiptail Habitat
Habitat, Stanislaus County Habitat, Kings County Habitat, southern Monterey County near the ocean. © Joel A. Germond Habitat, Santa Clara County
© Yuval Helfman
San Joaquin Coachwhip Habitat      
Habitat, San Luis Obispo County
© Joel A. Germond
     
       
Short Video
  California Whiptail    
  With characteristic jerky movement, a California Whiptail forages on the slopes of a mountain in Contra Costa County.    
     
Description
 
Size
Aspidoscelis tigris as a species is 2 3/8 - 5 inches inches long snout to vent (6 - 12.7 cm), up to around 13 inches (33 cm) total length.

Appearance
A slim-bodied lizard with a long slender tail, a pointed snout, and large symmetrical head plates.
Scales on the back are small and granular, and scales on the tail are keeled.
The belly is made of large, smooth, rectangular scales in 8 lengthwise rows.
The tail can reach up to two times the length of the body.
Color and Pattern
The back and sides are gray, tan, or brown, marked with dark spots or bars or mottling, which is often very sharply defined.
Dark marks on the side don't form vertical bars.
Usually 8 faint light brown stripes are present, but stripes on the side are sometimes indistinct.
The throat is pale with with large black spots.
Often there are reddish patches on the sides of the belly.
The tail tip is dark or bluish.
Young
The tail tip is bright blue on juveniles.
Juveniles have fairly well-defined stripes.

Life History and Behavior

Activity
Diurnal.
Wary and very active, moving with abrupt stops and starts, side-to-side head movement, and tongue flicking.
Often seen digging rapidly when foraging.
Difficult to approach - typically foraging near cover, and capable of quick bursts of speed into heavy brush or holes.
Diet and Feeding
Small invertebrates, especially spiders, scorpions, centipedes, and termites, and small lizards.
Reproduction

Unlike some species of whiptails which are all females, there are male and female western whiptails.
Males and females usually begin mating in May and females lay eggs shortly thereafter.
Females lay one clutch of eggs per year.
Eggs hatch from May to August.

Habitat
Hot and dry areas with sparse foliage and open areas. Found in forests, woodland, chaparral, riparian areas.

Geographical Range
This subspecies is endemic to California, ranging throughout the Central Valley, west to the coast just north of the Monterey Bay, and south through the South Coast Range to Ventura County where there is a zone of intergradation with A. t. stejnegeri.

The species (Aspidoscelis tigris) ranges from Oregon and southern Idaho, south through California and Nevada to Baja California, and east into Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico and south into Sonora and Sinaloa, Mexico.


Occurrence in Northeast California

The California Dept. of Fish and Wildlife map shows the species present in much of Shasta, Siskiyou, Modoc, and Lassen Counties, and the 2012 and 2018 Stebbins & McGinnis field guides show a question mark in the area. I have searched museum records but I have found no records for A. tigris in Siskiyou or Modoc counties, and there are no iNaturalist observations for the species from the area either, so my maps no longer show it occuring there.

Full Species Range Map
Elevational Range
The species is found at sea level to 7,000 ft. (2,130 m). This subspecies may differ somewhat.

Notes on Taxonomy

Alternate and Previous Names (Synonyms)

Aspidoscelis tigris munda - California Whiptail (Stebbins & McGinnis 2012)
Cnemidophorus tigris mundus - California Whiptail (Stebbins 1954, 1966, 2003,
Cnemidophorus tessselatus tesselatus - Common Tesselated Racerunner (Smith 1946)
Cnemidophorus hyperythrus beldingi - Belding Orange-throated Lizard (Verticaria hyperythra; Cnemidophorus hyperythrus; Verticaria hyperythra beldingi. Belding's Orange-throad; Cape Striped Lizard) (Grinnell and Camp 1917)

Conservation Issues  (Conservation Status)
None
Taxonomy
Family Teiidae Whiptails and Racerunners Gray, 1827
Genus Aspidoscelis (formerly Cnemidophorus) Whiptails Fitzinger, 1843
Species tigris Tiger Whiptail (Baird and Girard, 1852)
Subspecies munda

California Whiptail (Camp, 1916)
Original Description
Cnemidophorus tigris - Baird and Girard, 1852 - Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, Vol. 6, p. 69
Cnemidophorus tigris mundus - Camp, 1916 - Univ. California Publ. Zool. Vol. 17, p. 71

from Original Description Citations for the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America © Ellin Beltz

Meaning of the Scientific Name
Aspidoscelis = "shield-leg" from the Ancient Greek aspido- ("shield") and skelos ("leg").

from Wickipedia

tigris
- Latin - of a tiger - refers to the dorsal pattern
munda - Latin - mundus neat, sharp or elegant

from Scientific and Common Names of the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America - Explained © Ellin Beltz

Related or Similar California Lizards
San Diegan Tiger Whiptail - A. t. stejnegeri
Great Basin Whiptail - A. t. tigris
Belding's Orange-throated Whiptail - Aspidoscelis hyperythra beldingi

More Information and References
California Department of Fish and Wildlife

Stebbins, Robert C., and McGinnis, Samuel M.  Field Guide to Amphibians and Reptiles of California: Revised Edition (California Natural History Guides) University of California Press, 2012.

Stebbins, Robert C. California Amphibians and Reptiles. The University of California Press, 1972.

Flaxington, William C. Amphibians and Reptiles of California: Field Observations, Distribution, and Natural History. Fieldnotes Press, Anaheim, California, 2021.

Samuel M. McGinnis and Robert C. Stebbins. Peterson Field Guide to Western Reptiles & Amphibians. 4th Edition. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 2018.

Stebbins, Robert C. A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians. 3rd Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2003.

Behler, John L., and F. Wayne King. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Reptiles and Amphibians. Alfred A. Knopf, 1992.

Powell, Robert., Joseph T. Collins, and Errol D. Hooper Jr. A Key to Amphibians and Reptiles of the Continental United States and Canada. The University Press of Kansas, 1998.

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.

Joseph Grinnell and Charles Lewis Camp. A Distributional List of the Amphibians and Reptiles of California. University of California Publications in Zoology Vol. 17, No. 10, pp. 127-208. July 11, 1917.

Conservation Status

The following conservation status listings for this animal are taken from the April 2024 State of California Special Animals List and the April 2024 Federally Listed Endangered and Threatened Animals of California list (unless indicated otherwise below.) Both lists are produced by multiple agencies every year, and sometimes more than once per year, so the conservation status listing information found below might not be from the most recent lists. To make sure you are seeing the most recent listings, go to this California Department of Fish and Wildlife web page where you can search for and download both lists:
https://www.wildlife.ca.gov/Data/CNDDB/Plants-and-Animals.

A detailed explanation of the meaning of the status listing symbols can be found at the beginning of the two lists. For quick reference, I have included them on my Special Status Information page.

If no status is listed here, the animal is not included on either list. This most likely indicates that there are no serious conservation concerns for the animal. To find out more about an animal's status you can also go to the NatureServe and IUCN websites to check their rankings.

Check the current California Department of Fish and Wildlife sport fishing regulations to find out if this animal can be legally pursued and handled or collected with possession of a current fishing license. You can also look at the summary of the sport fishing regulations as they apply only to reptiles and amphibians that has been made for this website.

This animal is not included on the Special Animals List, which indicates that there are no significant conservation concerns for it in California.



Organization Status Listing  Notes
NatureServe Global Ranking
NatureServe State Ranking
U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) None
California Endangered Species Act (CESA) None
California Department of Fish and Wildlife None
Bureau of Land Management None
USDA Forest Service None
IUCN


 

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