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

Description • Taxonomy • Species Description • Scientific Name • Alt. Names • Similar Herps • References • Conservation Status

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

Adult, Contra Costa County

Adult, Santa Clara County © Yuval Helfman

Adult, Contra Costa County

Adult, Contra Costa County, with some unshedded skin still attached.

Adult, Fresno County

Adult, Contra Costa County

Adult, San Benito County

Adult, Sutter County © Jackson Shedd

Adult, northern Santa Clara County
© George Chrisman

Adult, Santa Barbara County
© Jennifer Cox

Adult, Solano County © Adam G. Clause

Adult, northern Ventura County
(in potential intergrade zone with
A. t. stejnegeri) © Patrick Briggs

Adult, Kings County
© Patrick Briggs

Adult, Tulare County © Patrick Briggs

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

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

Adult interesting dark pattern on the back,
San Luis Obispo County © Joel A. Germond

Adult, San Luis Obispo County © Dave Beller

Adult, San Benito County © Yuval Helfman

Adult, Santa Clara County © Yuval Helfman

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

Adult with re-generating tail, from San Luis Obispo, San Luis Obispo County
© Joel A. Germond

Adult, Alameda County
© Faris K

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

Juvenile, Bakersfield, Kern County

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

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

Habitat, Contra Costa County

Habitat, San Joaquin County

Habitat, Kern County

Habitat, Riverside County

Habitat, San Joaquin County

Habitat, Fresno County

Habitat, Contra Costa County

Habitat, Stanislaus County

Habitat, Kings County

Short Video

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.

(My California range map shows a question mark in the northeast corner of the state. The California Dept. of Fish and Wildlife maps show the species present in much of Shasta, Siskiyou, Modoc, and Lassen Counties. The 2003 Stebbins field guide and the 2012 Stebbins & McGinnis field guide show a question mark in the area, as I do. I have searched museum records but I have found no records for A. tigris in Siskiyou or Modoc counties.)

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 January 2024 State of California Special Animals List and the January 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. 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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