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| Adult male, Imperial County |
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Adult male, Imperial County |
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Adult male, Imperial County |
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| Adult male, Imperial County |
Adult male, Imperial County |
Adult male, Imperial County
© Patrick Briggs |
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Adult male, San Diego County
© Huck Triggs |
When I released the partially-buried lizard shown in this picture, he ran, then dived into the sand to hide, a typical defensive behavior of Fringe-toed lizards. Typically they bury themselves completely in sand, but this one did not because the sand was too shallow. |
Fringe-toed lizard footprints in the sand, made by the lizard buried in the picture to the left. |
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| Black blotches on the back merge to form broken lengthwise lines |
Dark diagonal lines on the throat |
Underside has permanent orange or pinkish stripes 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. |
The Fringe-toed Lizards, genus Uma, have soft and smooth skin with granular scales.
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| Habitat |
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Habitat, Imperial County
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Habitat, San Diego County |
Habitat, Imperial County
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Habitat, San Diego County |
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Short Videos of Colorado Desert and Mohave Fringe-toed Lizards
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| A Colorado Desert Fringe-toed lizard runs slowly, then very quickly over the hot sand. |
A Mojave Fringe-toed lizard biries 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.
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A Mojave Fringe-toed llizard runs quickly over the sand to escape. It almost escaped the camera... |
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| Description |
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| Size |
2 3/4 to 4 4/5 inches long from snout to vent (7 - 12.2 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, a conspicuous black bar or spot on the sides of the belly, and dark diagonal lines on the throat.
The sides of the belly have a permanent (not just during breeding) orange or pinkish stripe, which intensifies during the breeding season. |
| Male / Female Differences |
Males have two enlarged post-anal scales.
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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 begins in May.
Lays 1 - 5 eggs are laid from May to August.
Multiple clutches are laid in favorable years.
Incubation lasts around 60 days.
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| Habitat |
Sparsely-vegetated arid areas with fine wind-blown sand, including dunes, flats with sandy hummocks formed around the bases of vegetation, washes, and the banks of rivers. Needs fine, loose sand for burrowing.
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| Geographical Range |
Found in extreme southeast California in the Colorado Desert from the Salton Sea and Imperial sand hills east to the Colorado River, south to the Colorado River delta and on into extreme northeastern Baja California.
Ranges west as far as the east base of Borrego Mountain.
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 below sea level to 1,600 ft. (490 m). (Stebbins 2003)
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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 - Colorado Desert Fringe-toed Lizard (Stebbins 1966, 1985, 2003)
Uma inornata - Colorado Desert Sand Lizard (Stebbins 1955)
Uma inornata - Colorado 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) |
Highly vulnerable to off-road vehicle activity and the establishment of windbreaks that affect how windblown sand is deposited. (Stebbins 2003)
Protected from take with a sport fishing license in 2013. |
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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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notata |
Colorado Desert Fringe-toed Lizard |
Baird, 1859 “1858” |
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Original Description |
Uma notata - Baird, 1858 - Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, Vol. 10, p. 253
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
notata - Latin - marked
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. inornata - Coachella 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
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.
Lemm, Jeffrey. Field Guide to Amphibians and Reptiles of the San Diego Region (California Natural History Guides). University of California Press, 2006.
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
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.
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.
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Status Listing |
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| NatureServe Global Ranking |
G3 |
Vulnerable
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| NatureServe State Ranking |
S2 |
Imperiled
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| U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) |
None |
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| California Endangered Species Act (CESA) |
None |
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| California Department of Fish and Wildlife |
SSC |
Species of Special Concern |
| Bureau of Land Management |
S |
Sensitive |
| USDA Forest Service |
None |
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| IUCN |
NT |
Near Threatened |
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