THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY

Reptilia    Squamata (part-other lizards)    Phrynosomatidae  

Slevin’s Bunchgrass Lizard
Sceloporus slevini Smith, 1937
sel-oh-PORE-us — SLEH-vin-eye

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: 2025.02.06.09.25.05)
Download GeoJSON polygon range file: - 0.48 MB

Province/State Distribution:
United States: Arizona New Mexico

Taxonomic Etymology:
Named for a notable herpetologist.
Sceloporus — rom Greek skelos (σκελός), “leg,” and poros (πόρος), “pore,” referring to the conspicuous femoral pores found on the legs of males.
slevini — A patronym honoring Joseph Richard Slevin (1881–1957), long-time curator of herpetology at the California Academy of Sciences and a major contributor to Pacific herpetofauna collections.

First instance(s) of published English names:
Bunch Grass Lizard (Sceloporus scalaris slevini: 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:
1937 Smith, Hobart M. A synopsis of the scalaris group of the lizard genus Sceloporus. Occasional Papers of the Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan (361):1-8
1972 Anderson, James D. Pattern polymorphism in the bunchgrass lizard, Sceloporus scalaris slevini. Journal of Herpetology 6(1):80
1992 Sites, Jack W., Jr., J. W. Archie, C. J. Cole, and O. Flores Villela. A review of phylogenetic hypotheses for lizards of the genus Sceloporus (Phrynosomatidae): Implications for ecological and evolutionary studies. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History (213):1-110
1993 Wiens, John J. Phylogenetic relationships of phrynosomatid lizards and monophyly of the Sceloporus group. Copeia 1993(2):287-299
1998 Smith, Hobart M., David Chiszar, Adam Chiszar, David L. Auth, Joanne Auth, Clint Henke, Carl E. Bock, Jane H. Bock, John A. Rybak, Richard L. Holland, Kevin Bonine and Gregory J. Watkins-Colwell. Slevin's bunch grass lizard (Sceloporus slevini) decimated on the Sonoita Plain, Arizona. Herpetological Review 29(4):225-226
2003 Watkins-Colwell, Gregory J., Smith, Hobart M., and Chiszar, David Sceloporus slevini Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (771):1-6
2010 Wiens, John J., Caitlin A. Kuczynski, Saad Arif, and Tod W. Reeder. Phylogenetic relationships of phrynosomatid lizards based on nuclear and mitochondrial data, and a revised phylogeny for Sceloporus. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 54:150-161
2010 Leaché, Adam D. and Jack W. Sites. Chromosome evolution and diversification in North American Spiny Lizards (genus Sceloporus). Cytogenetic and Genome Research 127(2-4):166-191
2010 Leaché, Adam D. Species trees for spiny lizards (Genus Sceloporus): Identifying points of concordance and conflict between nuclear and mitochondrial data. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 2010(54):162-171
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
2024 Pillod, David S., Michelle I. Jeffries, Robert S. Arkle, and Deanna H. Olson. Climate futures for lizards and snakes in western North America may result in new species management issues Ecology and Evolution 14(10):1-23

THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY — Accessed: Friday 05 December 2025 15:53 CT