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Reptilia    Squamata (part-other lizards)    Teiidae  
Plateau Striped Whiptail
Aspidoscelis velox (Springer, 1928)
as-pid-OSS-uh-lis — VEL-oks
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SSAR 9th Edition Comments:
 Cole et al. (2019, American Museum Novitates. 3936: 1–8) studied karyotypes of Aspidoscelis from a population that had previously been treated as the species A. innotatus (e.g., Wright, 1993, in J. W. Wright and L. J. Vitt [Editors], Biology of Whiptail Lizards [Genus Cnemidophorus], Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, Pp. 27–81), which had been thought to differ from triploid A. velox in being diploid (Wright, op. cit.; see also Cuellar and Wright, 1992, Compte rendu des séances de la Société de biogéographie 68: 157–160). They found all individuals examined to be triploid and therefore treated this population as conspecific with A. velox. (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.)

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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:; 4,502 Total; 2,637 Museum; 1,865 Other

The locality database contains 8,094,832 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: 2023.04.08.10.27.57)
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Province/State Distribution:
United States: Arizona Colorado New Mexico Oregon Utah

Taxonomic Etymology:
A fast-moving whiptail lizard of the western U.S.
Aspidoscelis — Greek for “shield leg.”
velox — Latin velox = “swift” or “fast,” referring to its rapid locomotion.

First instance(s) of published English names:
Colorado Plateau Race Runner (Cnemidophorus sacki innotatus: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.);


Selected References:
1928 Springer, Syewart. An annotated list of the lizards of Lee's Ferry, Arizona. Copeia 1928(169):100-104
1931 Burt, Charles E. A study of the teiid lizards of the genus Cnemidophorus with special reference to their phylogenetic relationships. Bulletin of the United States National Museum (154):1-286
1968 Wright, John W. Variation in three sympatric sibling species of whiptail lizards, genus Cnemidophorus. Journal of Herpetology 1(1-4):1-20
1970 Gorman, George C. Chromosomes and the systematics of the family Teiidae (Sauria, Reptilia). Copeia 1970(2):230-245
1998 Stuart, James N. Cnemidophorus velox. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (656):1-6
2002 Reeder, Tod W., Charles J. Cole, and Herbert C. Dessauer. Phylogenetic relationships of Whiptail lizards of the genus Cnemidophorus (Squamata: Teiidae): A test of monophyly, reevaluation of karyotypic evolution, and review of hybrid origins. American Museum Novitates (3365):1-61

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