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Reptilia    Squamata (part-other lizards)    Phrynosomatidae  
Coachella Fringe-toed Lizard
Uma inornata Cope, 1895
YOU-mah — in-or-NAY-tah
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SSAR 9th Edition Comments:
 Some recent references use the alternative English name “Coachella Valley Fringe-toed Lizard”. Our guidelines for forming standard English names state that names should be as short as possible, and in keeping with those guidelines, we do not always include terms such as “Desert” and “Mountains” with location names such as “Sonoran”, “Chihuahuan”, and “Panamint”. For similar reasons, we do not include “Valley” in the standard English name of this species. (de Queiroz, Kevin and Lauren M. Chan. 2025. Squamata (excluding snakes) – Lizards. Pages 23-37 in Kirsten E. Nicholson (Editor), Scientific and Standard English Names of Amphibians and Reptiles of North America North of Mexico, with Comments Regarding Confidence in Our Understanding, 9th Edition. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, Lawrence, Kansas. 87 pp.)

(,   Museum Voucher) (,   Observation) (,   Literature Record), (,   Citizen Science), (  Fossil)
Open icons indicate questionable records, including those with coordinate uncertainty greater than 10,000 m (approximately 6 miles). Click a marker to view metadata.
Occurrences:; 1,831 Total; 1,477 Museum; 354 Other

The locality database contains 8,248,810 records, and geographic and taxonomic errors exist. Logged-in, registered users may report a potential issue directly from the marker popup.
Shaded range maps are based on curated specimens and provided gratis by CNAH. (Version: 2024.04.22.13.46.49)
Download map data (GeoJSON):
Polygon Range File Museum Literature Fossil Personal Observation Citizen Science

Province/State Distribution:
United States: California

Taxonomic Etymology:
A sand-dwelling lizard with a plain or unadorned appearance.
Uma — An arbitrary name coined by Baird in 1859, possibly derived from Native American sources or used for its brevity. Its etymological origin remains unclear.
inornata — From Latin inornatus, meaning “unadorned” or “plain.” Refers to the species’ relatively dull or uniform coloration compared to congeners.

First instance(s) of published English names:
Plain Sand Lizard (Uma inornata: Van Denburgh, John. 1897. The reptiles of the Pacific Coast and Great Basin: An account of the species known to inhabit California, and Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Nevada. Occasional Papers of the California Academy of Sciences 5():9-236); Coachella Valley Fringe-toed Lizard (Uma notata inornata: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.);


Selected References:
1895 Cope, Edward D. On the species of Uma and Xantusia. The American Naturalist 29(346):938-939
1958 Norris, Kenneth Stafford. The evolution and systematics of the iguanid genus Uma and its relation to the evolution of other North American desert reptiles. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 114(3):247-326
1973 Pough, F. Harvey. Uma inornata.. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (126):1-2
1977 Adest, Gary Andrew. Genetic relationships in the genus Uma (Iguanidae). Copeia 1977(1):47-52
1989 Queiroz, de, Kevin. Morphological and biochemical evolution in the sand lizards. Dissertation. University of California, Berkeley. 491pp.
2013 Lambert, Shea M. and John J. Wiens. Evolution of viviparity: A phylogenetic test of the cold-climate hypothesis in Phrynosomatid lizards. Evolution 67(9):2614–2630
2020 Derycke, Elizabeth G., Andrew D. Gottscho, Daniel G. Mulcahy, and Kevin De Queiroz. A new cryptic species of fringe-toed lizards from southwestern Arizona with a revised taxonomy of the Uma notata species complex (Squamata: Phrynosomatidae). Zootaxa 4778(1):67-100

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