THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY


Reptilia    Squamata (part)    Phrynosomatidae  

Ornate Tree Lizard
Urosaurus ornatus (Baird and Girard, 1852)

Current SSAR Comments:
Haenel (2007, Molecular Ecology 16: 4321–4334) found substantial phylogeographic structure in the mtDNA of U. ornatus, some of which is roughly consistent with previously recognized subspecies (U. o. ornatus, U. o. schmidti, U. o. wrighti), other of which is not (therefore, the remaining subspecies are designated legacy subspecies in the list below). The phylogeography of U. ornatus deserves further study, particularly regarding its taxonomic implications. See note under U. graciosus regarding introgression of U. ornatus mtDNA into U. graciosus.

Range maps are based on curated specimens and provided gratis by CNAH.
(Created by Travis W. Taggart; Version: 2023.04.10.13.42.07)
Download GeoJSON polygon range file: - 0.85 MB

First instance(s) of published English names:
Schott's Lizard (Uta schottii: Cooper, James G. 1869. The fauna of California and its geographical distribution. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences 4():61-81); Graceful Lizard (Uta symmetrica: Cooper, James G. 1869. The fauna of California and its geographical distribution. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences 4():61-81); Ornate Uta (Uta ornata: 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); Schott's Uta (Uta schotti: 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); Tree Uta (Uta symmetrica: 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); Ornate Uta Lizard (Uta ornata: Brown, Arthur, E. 1902. Report of the Board of Directors. Pages 5-22 in Thirtieth Annual Report of the Board of Directors of the Zoological Society of Philadelphia. Allen, Lane, and Scott, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. pp.); Tree Lizard (Sceloporus spinosus floridanus: Strecker, John K. 1922. An annotated catalogue of the amphibians and reptiles of Bexar County, Texas. Bulletin Scientific Society of San Antonio (4):1-31); Mexican Tree Uta (Uta (Urosaurus) ornata lateralis: 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.); Arizona Tree Uta (Uta (Urosaurus) ornata symmetrica: 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.); Ornate Lizard (Uta ornata: Strecker, John K. 1922. An annotated catalogue of the amphibians and reptiles of Bexar County, Texas. Bulletin Scientific Society of San Antonio (4):1-31);

Taxon Links:

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

Pertinent LIterature:
1852 Baird, Spencer F. and Charles Girad. Characteristics of some new reptiles in the Museum of the Smithsonian Institution, Second Part. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia 6():125-129

THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY — Accessed: Thursday 30 January 2025 02:03 CT