Crotaphytus is a genus of lizards, commonly known as collared lizards, in the family Crotaphytidae. Member species are small to medium-sized predators indigenous to the American southwest, Baja peninsula, and Mexico. Including the tail, they can be as small as or as long as , and are characterized by distinct bands of black or brown around the neck, to which their common names refer.
Species
The following species and subspecies are recognized as being valid. www.reptile-database.org. Image Scientific name Common name DistributionCrotaphytus antiquus venerable collared lizard Sierra San Lorenzo, Sierra Texas, and Sierra Solis in extreme southwestern Coahuila state, MexicoCrotaphytus bicinctores Great Basin collared lizard or desert collared lizard Western United StatesCrotaphytus collaris common collared lizardMexico and the south-central United States (Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas) Crotaphytus dickersonae Sonoran collared lizard Mexico Crotaphytus grismeri Grismer's collared lizardBaja California, Mexico Crotaphytus insularis eastern collared lizard MexicoCrotaphytus nebrius Sonoran collared lizard U.S. state of Arizona and the Mexican state of SonoraCrotaphytus reticulatus reticulated collared lizard US state of Texas, Mexico (Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas)Crotaphytus vestigium Baja California collared lizardCalifornia (United States) and Baja California (Mexico)
Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses or a trinomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species or subspecies was originally described in a genus other than Crotaphytus.
Symbol
In 1969, Oklahoma designated its first state reptile when it chose the collared lizard.
References
Citations
Bibliography
Holbrook JE (1842). North American Herpetology; or, A Description of the Reptiles Inhabiting the United States. Vol. II. (Second edition). Philadelphia: J. Dobson. 142 pp. (Crotaphytus, new genus, p. 79).
External links Photos of genus members