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Reptilia    Squamata (part-other lizards)    Crotaphytidae  

Reticulate Collared Lizard
Crotaphytus reticulatus Baird, 1859 “1858”
KROH-tah-fy-tus — ree-tik-yoo-LAH-tus

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: 2023.04.08.12.46.04)
Download GeoJSON polygon range file: - 0.05 MB

Province/State Distribution:
United States: Texas

Taxonomic Etymology:
Known for the net-like pattern on its back.
Crotaphytus — Greek krotaphos + phyton — “temple creature.”
reticulatus — Latin reticulatus = “net-like,” “reticulated” — describing the lizard’s dorsal pattern.

First instance(s) of published English names:
Reticulated Lizard (Crotaphytus reticulatus: 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); Reticulated Lizard (Crotaphytus retiulatus: 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:
1859 "1858" Baird, Spencer F. Description of new genera and species of North American lizards in the museum of the Smithsonian Institution. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 10:253-256
1942 Brown, Bryce C. Notes on Crotaphytus reticulatus. Copeia 1942(3):176
1971 Montanucci, Richard R. Ecological and distributional data on Crotaphytus reticulatus (Sauria: Iguanidae). Herpetologica 27(2):183-197
1974 Montanucci, Richard R. Convergence, polymorphism or introgressive hybridization? An analysis of interaction between Crotaphytus collaris and C. reticulatus (Sauria: Iguanidae). Copeia 1974(1):87-101
1975 Montanucci, Ricahrd R., Ralph W. Axtell, and Herbert C. Dessauer. Evolutionary divergence among collared lizards (Crotaphytus), with comments on the status of Gambelia. Herpetologica 31:336-347
1976 Montanucci, Richard R. Crotaphytus reticulatus. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (185):1-2
1996 McGuire, Jimmy A. Phylogenetic systematics of crotaphytid lizards (Reptilia: Iguania: Crotaphytidae). Bulletin of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History 32:iv + 1-143
2007 McGuire, Jimmy A., Charles W. Linkem, Michelle S. Koo, Delbert W. Hutchison, A. Kristopher Lappin, David I. Orange, Julio Lemos-Espinal, Brett R. Riddle, and Jef R. Jaeger. Mitochondrial introgression and incomplete lineage sorting through space and time: Phylogenetics of Crotaphytid lizards. Evolution 61-(12):2879–2897

THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY — Accessed: Friday 05 December 2025 17:00 CT