San Diegan Legless Lizard
Anniella stebbinsi
Papenfuss and Parham, 2013
AN-ee-ELL-ah — STEB-in-sigh
SSAR 9th Edition Comments:
This species consists of two disjunct populations, one south of the Transverse Ranges in southern California and northern Baja California and one in the Tehachapi and Piute Mountains (Papenfuss and Parham, 2013, Breviora 536: 1–17), which is phylogenetically nested within the former (Parham and Papenfuss, 2009, Conservation Genetics 10: 169–176).
(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.)
Range maps are based on curated specimens and provided gratis by CNAH.
(Created by Travis W. Taggart; Version: 2023.09.12.20.46.41)
Download GeoJSON polygon range file: - 0.07 MB
Province/State Distribution:
United States: California
Taxonomic Etymology:
Named in honor of a foundational figure in American herpetology.
Anniella — A patronym, honoring Anna, the wife of Spencer Fullerton Baird (according to some sources), or a feminine diminutive of the type locality's personal association. The name has unclear but anthropogenic origins.
Likely a feminized form honoring a person or place associated with the collector or describer, though the exact origin is uncertain. Possibly linked to Anna Baird or similar feminine root.
stebbinsi — A patronym honoring Robert C. Stebbins (1915–2013), an influential American herpetologist, artist, and author of A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians.
First instance(s) of published English names:
Footless Lizard (Anniella pulchra: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.);
Catalog of American Amphibians and Reptiles
The Reptile Database
GenBank
USGS - Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database
Selected References:
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1932
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Klauber, Laurence M.. Notes on the silvery footless lizard, Anniella pulchra. Copeia 1932(1):4-6
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1995
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Bell, Christopher J., Jim I. Mead, and Leslie P. Fay. Neogene history of Anniella Gray, 1852 (Squamata, Anniellidae) with comments on postcranial osteology. Copeia 1995(3):719-726
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2008
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Hunt, Lawrence E. Anniella. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (848):11
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2008
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Hunt, Lawrence E. Anniella pulchra (California Legless Lizard). Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (850):1-14
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2013
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Papenfuss, Theodore J. and James F. Parham. Four new species of California Legless Lizards (Anniella). Breviora (536):1-17
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