THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY

Reptilia    Squamata (part)    Phrynosomatidae  

Zebra-tailed Lizard
Callisaurus draconoides Blainville, 1835

SSAR 9th Edition Comments:
 There are no current SSAR comments for this taxon.

Range maps are based on curated specimens and provided gratis by CNAH.
(Created by Travis W. Taggart; Version: 2024.04.22.13.02.30)
Download GeoJSON polygon range file: - 0.17 MB

Province/State Distribution:
USA: Arizona California Nevada New Mexico Utah

First instance(s) of published English names:
Beautiful Lizard (Callisaurus ventralis: Cooper, James G. 1869. The fauna of California and its geographical distribution. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences 4():61-81); Gabb's Dragon (Callisaurus dracontoides babbi: Yarrow, Henry C. 1882. Check list of North American Reptilia and Batrachia with catalogue of specimens in U. S. National Museum. Bulletin of the United States National Museum (24):1-249); California Dragon (Callisaurus dracontoides dracontoides: Yarrow, Henry C. 1882. Check list of North American Reptilia and Batrachia with catalogue of specimens in U. S. National Museum. Bulletin of the United States National Museum (24):1-249); Spotted-tail Dragon (Callisaurus dracontoides ventralis: Yarrow, Henry C. 1882. Check list of North American Reptilia and Batrachia with catalogue of specimens in U. S. National Museum. Bulletin of the United States National Museum (24):1-249); Gridiron-tailed Lizard (Callisaurus ventralis: Stejneger, Leonhard H. 1893. Annotated list of the reptiles and batrachians collected by the Death Valley Expedition in 1891, with descriptions of new species. North American Fauna 7():159–228); Gridiron-tailed Lizard (Callisaurus ventralis: 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); Gridiron-tailed Lizard (Callisaurus ventralis ventralis: Stejneger, Leonhard H. and Thomas Barbour. 1917. A Checklist of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts. pp.); Lower Californian Gridiron-tailed Lizard (Callisaurus draconoides carmenensis: Van Denburgh, John. 1922. The Reptiles of Western North America: An Account of the Species Known to Inhabit California and Oregon, Washinton, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, British Columbia, Sonora, and Lower California. Volume I. Lizards. California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco. 556pp.); San Lucan Gridiron-tailed Lizard (Callisaurus draconoides draconoides: Van Denburgh, John. 1922. The Reptiles of Western North America: An Account of the Species Known to Inhabit California and Oregon, Washinton, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, British Columbia, Sonora, and Lower California. Volume I. Lizards. California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco. 556pp.); Gridiron-tailed Lizard (Callisaurus draconoides: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.); Nevada Gridiron-tailed Lizard (Callisaurus draconoides myurus: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.); Arizona Gridiron-tailed Lizard (Callisaurus draconoides ventralis: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.);

Taxon Links:

  
Catalog of American Amphibians and Reptiles
  
The Reptile Database
  
NatureServe
  
iNaturalist
  
GenBank
  
USGS - Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database

Selected References:
1835 Blainville, Henri-Marie Ducrotay. Description de quelques espèces de reptiles de la Californie: Précédée de l'analyse d'un systéme général d'erpétologie et d'amphibiologie. [Description of some species of reptiles from California: Preceded by the analysis of a general system of herpetology and amphibiology.] Nouvelles Annales Du Museum D'Histoire Naturelle, Paris [ New Annals of the Natural History Museum, Paris] 3(2):233-296
1956 Smith, Hobart M. and Doris Cochran. Callisaurus draconoides rhodostictus Cope revived for the western fringe-footed lizard, Callisaurus draconoides gabbi Cope. Herpetologica 12:153-154
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
1963 Clarke, Robert F. The comparative behavior of the iguanid lizards, Callisaurus, Cophosaurus, and Holbrookia. Dissertation. University of Oklahoma, Norman. 136pp.
1965 Clarke, Robert F. An ethological study of the iguanid genera Callisaurus, Cophosaurus, and Holbrookia. Emporia State Research Studies 13(4):1-66
1987 Smith, D. D., P. A. Medica, and S. R. Sanborn. Ecological comparison of sympatric populations of sand lizards (Cophosaurus texanus and Callisaurus draconoides). Great Basin Naturalist 47:175-185
1989 de Queiroz, Kevin. Morphological and biochemical evolution in the sand lizards. Dissertation. University of California, Berkeley. 491pp.
1993 Wiens, John J. Phylogenetic relationships of phrynosomatid lizards and monophyly of the Sceloporus group. Copeia 1993(2):287-299
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
2017 Bezy, Robert L., Philip C. Rosen, Thomas R. Van Devender, and Erik F. Enderson. Southern distributional limits of the Sonoran Desert herpetofauna along the mainland coast of northwestern Mexico Mesoamerican Herpetology 4(1):138-167

THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY — Accessed: Sunday 27 April 2025 11:10 CT