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| Adult male, Riverside County |
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Adult male, Riverside County |
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| Adult male, Riverside County |
Adult, Riverside County
© 2003 Bon Terra Consulting |
Adult, Riverside County
© 2004 William Flaxington |
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| Adult, Riverside County |
Two adults basking on a dune in the morning, Riverside County |
Adult, Riverside County © Patrick Briggs |
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| Black blotches on the back merge to form broken lengthwise lines |
Pale streaks on the throat are faded or absent at mid-throat |
Underside is pale and unmarked.
(Fewer than 5 percent of lizards have a small dot or group of dots on the sides)
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Fringes on toes of rear foot.
These fringes give the lizard genus its common name. They give the toes more surface area to keep them from sinking as the lizard moves over fine wind-blown sand. |
Adult male (top) and adult female (right), Riverside County © Patrick Briggs |
Cloacal study of adult male (left) and female (right) © Patrick Briggs |
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Adult male underside, Riverside County
© Patrick Briggs |
Top and bottom of head,, Riverside County © Patrick Briggs |
Fringe-toed Lizards, genus Uma, have soft and smooth skin with granular scales. |
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Fringe-toed Lizard footprints. |
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| Habitat |
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| Habitat, wind-blown sand dunes, Riverside County |
Habitat, wind-blown sand dunes, Riverside County |
Habitat, wind-blown sand dunes, Riverside County |
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| Habitat, wind-blown sand dunes, Riverside County |
This Nature Conservancy preserve was formerly named the Coachella Valley Fringe-toed Lizard Preserve. Large sand dunes can be seen in the distance. |
Sign at Coachella Preserve,
Riverside County
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Short Videos of Other Species of Fringe-toed Lizards
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| Watch a Mojave Fringe-toed lizard bury itself in the sand to hide. This lizard was captive and sluggish and buries itself slowly and incompletely. In the wild a lizard runs quickly then dissapears in a flash as it dives into the sand. |
Watch a Mojave Fringe-toed llizard run quickly over the sand to escape. It almost escaped the camera... |
A Colorado Desert Fringe-toed lizard runs slowly, then very quickly over the hot sand. |
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| Description |
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| Size |
2 3/4 - 4 7/8 inches long from snout to vent (7 - 12.4 cm). (Stebbins 2003)
The tail is about the same length as the body.
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| Appearance |
A medium-sized, flat-bodied, smooth-skinned lizard that inhabits areas of loose sand.
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| Color and Pattern |
Color is white, with a contrasting pattern of broken black lengthwise lines and round, eye-like spots.
The color and pattern create a successful camouflage which allows a lizard to blend into its sandy habitat.
The underside is pale with black bars on the underside of the tail, and there are pale streaks on the throat that are faded or absent at mid-throat.
Fewer than 5 percent of lizards have a small dot or group of dots on the sides of the belly. Most have no markings at all. |
| Male / Female Differences |
Males have enlarged post-anal scales.
During the breeding season males develop a pinkish wash on the sides of the belly, and under the tail, and reddish colors around the eyes.
Gravid females develop bright orange coloring on the sides of their flanks, face and the upper part of their tail.
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| Comparison With Similar Species |
Comparison of the three species of Fringe-toed Lizards found in California.
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| Life History and Behavior |
Activity |
Diurnal.
Adapted to living in areas with fine windblown sand.
Goes underground in the sand or in a burrow in November, and emerges in February.
Young lizards may go under later and emerge earlier.
Takes cover in the sand to avoid extreme temperatures.
Commonly sleeps in the sand under a bush at night.
A fringe of scales on the sides of the toes help this lizard run quickly over fine sand, preventing them from sinking, similar to the effect of wearing snowshoes.
Scales are granular and very small, which helps a lizard bury itself quickly in fine sand.
A countersunk lower jaw, eyelids that overlap, flaps over the ears, and nostrils and nasal passages which work like valves, all prevent sand from getting into a lizard's orifices and lungs.
The parietal eye, an eye-like structure on top of the head, is thought to help this lizard monitor the amount of solar radiation it receives to help it avoid too much or too little heat.
On waking in the morning, a lizard often basks with just the head above the sand until its body temperature warms sufficiently to allow it to unbury the entire body and continue basking or begin activity. |
| Defense |
| When scared, this lizard will run very quickly on its hind legs to the opposite side of a bush or a small sand hill, and run into a burrow or dive into the sand. Sometimes they will stop and freeze underneath a bush. |
| Diet and Feeding |
Eats primarily small invertebrates such as ants, beetles, and grasshoppers, along with occasional blossoms, leaves, and seeds. The consumption of plant material may inadvertently occur when a lizard is eating insects.
Adults will also eat lizard hatchlings. |
| Reproduction |
Mating takes place from March through May.
2 - 4 eggs are laid from April to September.
Young emerge from June to early October.
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| Habitat |
Sparsely-vegetated arid areas with fine wind-blown sand, including dunes, washes, and flats with sandy hummocks formed around the bases of vegetation. Needs fine, loose sand for burrowing.
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| Geographical Range |
Endemic to California. Restricted to sandy areas in the Coachella Valley of Riverside County.
Fringe-toed Lizards, genus Uma, can be found in Arizona, California, Nevada, and in Baja California, Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuilla, and Durango, Mexico.
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| Elevational Range |
From near sea level to 1,600 ft. (490 m).
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| Notes on Taxonomy |
Tre´panier and Murphy (2001) determined that 5 species of Uma inhabit the U.S.:
Uma scoparia,
Uma inornata,
Uma notata,
Uma rufopunctata,
and an unnamed species from the Mohawk Dunes in Arizona.
In 2020 Uma rufopunctata was shown to represent a hybrid population between Uma notata and Uma cowlesi.
The population in the Mohawk Dunes in Arizona was re-named the Mohawk Dunes Fringe-toed Lizard - Uma thurmanae.
[Derycke, Gottscho, Mulcahy, & De Queiroz "A new cryptic species of fringe-toed lizards from southwestern Arizona with a revised taxonomy of the Uma notata cpecies complex (Squamata: Phrynosomatidae) Zootaxa 4778 (1) 67-100]
Alternate and Previous Names (Synonyms)
Uma inornata - Coachella Valley Fringe-toed Lizard (Stebbins 1966, 1985, 2003)
Uma inornata - Coachella Sand Lizard (Stebbins 1954)
Uma inornata - Coachella Uma (Smith 1946)
Uma notata - Ocellated Sand Lizard (Uma inornata; Ocellated Desert Lizard; Red-spotted Desert Lizard; Cope's Desert Lizard; Spotted Yuma Lizard.) (Grinnell and Camp 1917)
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| Conservation Issues (Conservation Status) |
| Protected by the state. Approximately 75 - 90 percent of its habitat has been destroyed due to urban and agricultural development, off-road vehicle use, windbreaks, exotic vegetation, and other disruptions to the formation of the wind-blown sand drifts this lizard requires. Several preserves and refuges have been created to protect much of the remaining habitat. |
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Taxonomy |
| Family |
Phrynosomatidae |
Zebra-tailed, Earless, Fringe-toed, Spiny, Tree, Side-blotched, and Horned Lizards |
Fitzinger, 1843 |
| Genus |
Uma |
Fringe-toed Lizards |
Baird, 1859 “1858” |
Species
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inornata |
Coachella Fringe-toed Lizard |
Cope, 1895 |
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Original Description |
Uma notata inornata - Cope, 1895 - Amer. Nat., Vol. 29, p. 93
from Original Description Citations for the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America © Ellin Beltz
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Meaning of the Scientific Name |
Uma - Yuma Native American group - possibly referring to its location in AZ
inornata - Latin - not marked (probably referring to the lack of strong marking on the underside of the male, when compared to other Uma species.)
from Scientific and Common Names of the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America - Explained © Ellin Beltz
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Related or Similar California Lizards |
U. notata - Colorado Desert Fringe-toed Lizard
U. scoparia - Mohave Fringe-toed Lizard
C. d. rhodostictus - Western Zebra-tailed Lizard
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More Information and References |
California Department of Fish and Wildlife
Hansen, Robert W. and Shedd, Jackson D. California Amphibians and Reptiles. (Princeton Field Guides.) Princeton University Press, 2025.
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.
Thelander, Carl G., editor in chief. Life on the Edge - A Guide to California's Endangered Natural Resources - Wildlife. Berkeley: Bio Systems Books, 1994.
The Coachella Valley Fringe-Toed Lizard (Uma inornata): Genetic Diversity and Phylogenetic Relationships of an Endangered Species Tanya L. Tre´panier and Robert W. Murphy
Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution Vol. 18, No. 3, March, pp. 327–334, 2001
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.
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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.
The July 2023 Federally Listed Endangered and Threatened Animals of California list uses the name "Coachella Valley Fringe-toed Lizard."
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| Organization |
Status Listing |
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| NatureServe Global Ranking |
G1Q |
The element is very rare, but there are taxonomic questions associated with it. |
| NatureServe State Ranking |
S1 |
Critically imperiled
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| U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) |
FT |
Listed as Threatened10/27/1980 |
| California Endangered Species Act (CESA) |
SE |
Listed as Endangered 10/02/1980 |
| California Department of Fish and Wildlife |
None |
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| Bureau of Land Management |
None |
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| USDA Forest Service |
None |
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| IUCN |
EN |
Endangered |
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