REPTILIA: SQUAMATA: IGUANIDAE: Gambelia

Gambelia wislizenii Baird and Girard, 1852

Leopard lizard

Photos & text by Dr. Robert Sprackland.

 
This half-grown leopard lizard was photographed 
at Fossil Butte, SW Idaho, in May, 1990.

Range: Much of the western United States, from SW Idaho south into extreme northern Baja.

Diagnosis: Large-headed, granular-scaled lizards with a gray dorsum and dark brown "leopard" spots on the body.

Description: Leopard lizards have large heads that are longer than wide, with bulging large jaw muscles in the cheeks. Eyelids and ear openings present. The neck is much narrower than the head. Body slightly depressed. Limbs broadly overlap when adpressed. Tail cylindrical or nearly so, longer than head-body length.

Body scales small, granular, and uniform. No crests, spines or frills. Upper body light brown with numerous darker brown spots forming a "leopard" pattern. Undersurfaces white, unmarked.

Natural History: Leopard lizards are common in fairly open, sandy areas with vegetation that serves as cover. They are voracious feeders that consume large insects, many arthropods and other lizards. 

Unlike many other iguanids, leopard lizards cannot regrow a lost tail; consequently, these lizards rarely are found with a missing tail.  

Reproduction: Female leopard lizards mate in spring and soon assume bright orange lateral spots that last until shortly after laying eggs. Males have large femoral pores, especially during the breeding season when they secrete waxy combs.

Taxonomy & Relationships: Leopard lizards form part of a small group of desert-dwelling lizards restricted to western North America and northwestern Mexico.

Variation:

Additional Comments:

Type Specimen:

Literature: Click on book to order a copy. 

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

Montanucci, Richard. 1970. Analysis of hybridization between Crotaphytus wislizenii and Crotaphytus silus (Sauria: Iguanidae) in California. Copeia 1970(1): 104-123.

Smith, Hobart. 1946. Handbook of Lizards: Lizards of the United States and of Canada. Comstock Publishing.