REPTILIA: SQUAMATA: IGUANIDAE: Crotaphytus

Crotaphytus collaris (Say, 1823)

Eastern Collared Lizard

Text & Photos by Dr. Robert Sprackland. This is an adult male collared lizard.

Range: Kansas south to Texas and northern Mexico; Extreme western Arkansas and relict populations in eastern Missouri.

Diagnosis: A large, rough-scaled lizard with a broad black collar bordered anteriorly and posteriorly by thin white edges, and incomplete at the nape. There is a conspicuous white postocular streak.

Description: A large-headed, squat-bodied lizard with a long, round tail and very long hind legs. The neck is encircled by a pair of black collars that do not meet at the nape. Males have a greenish body with brown markings, and have conspicuous femoral pores. Females and young are tan and brown. The tail is not capable of regeneration.

Natural History: Collared lizards inhabit rocky hillsides across most of their range (though an exceptional group of small relict populations in Missouri live in grassy fields), where they perch on boulders and flee at any sign of danger. Brightly colored adult males may grow to 7 ¼ inches, and are highly territorial. This species is an active and powerful insectivore that consumes large insects and arthropods, but also takes smaller lizards. Do not house two male collared lizards together, or house collared lizards with smaller specimens.

Though rock dwellers, collared lizards are excellent jumpers and runners, and can cover long distances at high speed by running bipedally.

These lizards prefer daytime air temperatures in the 85-100° F range, with nighttime lows in the 70s. Over much of their range they burrow deep into rock recesses and hibernate from mid October until late April.

The bite from a collared lizard is harmless, but can easily break human skin.

Reproduction: Collared lizards mate in the spring and lay eggs in early to mid summer. Females develop orange lateral spots after mating. Young hatch in the fall, and feed before winter hibernation.

Taxonomy & Relationships:  A member of the subfamily Crotaphytinae, which includes the collared and leopard lizards of the United States and Mexico.

Type Specimen:

Literature:  Click on book to order a copy

Conant, Roger and Joseph Collins. 1985. A field guide to eastern reptiles and amphibians. Houghton Mifflin Co. ISBN: 0-395-90452-8.

Fitch, Henry. 1956. An ecological study of the collared lizard. University of Kansas Publications 6(3): 213-274.

Hranitz, John and Toy Baird. 2000. Effective population size and genetic structure of a population of collared lizards, Crotaphytus collaris, in central Oklahoma. Copeia 2000(3):786-791.

Hutchinson, Delbert, Simon Malcomber and L.S. Pletscher. 1999. A multidisciplinary investigation  of the applicability of the Pleistocene herpetofaunal stability model to collared lizards. Herpetological Monographs 13: 51-141.

Legler, John and Henry Fitch. 1957. Observations on hibernation and nests of the collared lizard, Crotaphytus collaris. Copeia 1957(4):305-307.

McGuire, Jimmy. 1996. Phylogenetic systematics of Crotaphytid lizards (Reptilia: Iguania: Crotaphytidae). Bulletin of Carnegie Museum of Natural History, number 32. ISBN: 0145-9058.

Riedel, Florian. 1993. Die erfolgreiche und kontinuierliche Haltung und Zucht des Halsbandleguans Crotaphytus collaris fuscus. Iguana 12(2): 19-24.

Schumacher, Robert. 1998. Die kontinuierliche Zucht des Halsbandleguans Crotaphytus collaris (Say, 1823) im Terrarium, mit Hinweisen zur Unterartproblematik. Salamandra 34(3): 193-218.

Sloan, Chris and T. Baird. 1999. Is heightened post-ovipositional aggression in female collared lizards (Crotaphytus collaris) nest defense? Herpetologica 55:516-

Smith, Hobart. 1946. Handbook of Lizards: Lizards of the United States and of Canada. Comstock Publishing. ISBN: 0-8014-8236-4.

Sprackland, Robert. 1993. Husbandry and breeding of collared lizards. The Vivarium : 23-26.

Sprackland, Robert. 1990. Collared lizards. Tropical Fish Hobbyist November: 104-11.

Stebbins, Robert. 1985. A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians, 2nd edition. Houghton Mifflin Co. ISBN: 0-395-38253-X.

WEBSITE: www.crotaphytus.de