THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY

Reptilia    Squamata (part-other lizards)    Xantusiidae  

Wiggins’ Night Lizard
Xantusia wigginsi Savage, 1952
zan-TOO-see-ah — WIG-ins-eye

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

(,   Museum Voucher) (,   Observation) (,   Literature Record), (,   Citizen Science), (  Fossil)
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Occurrences:; 710 Total; 689 Museum; 21 Other
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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: - 0.22 MB

Province/State Distribution:
United States: California

Taxonomic Etymology:
Named for a desert botanist and explorer.
Xantusia — Named in honor of John Xantus de Vesey (1825–1894), a Hungarian-born zoologist and collector who worked in California and Mexico. Many reptiles and other animals bear his name.
wigginsi — A patronym honoring Ira Loren Wiggins (1899–1987), a botanist and Baja California naturalist who contributed significantly to the biological knowledge of the region.

First instance(s) of published English names:
No historic English names have been assigned to this taxon yet.

Taxon Links:

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

Selected References:
1952 Savage, Jay M. Studies on the lizard family Xantusidae I. The systematic status of the Baja California Night Lizards allied to Xantusia vigilis, with the description of a new subspecies. The American Midland Naturalist 48(2):467-479
1986 Crother, Brian I., Michael M. Miyamoto, and William F. Presch. Phylogeny and biogeography of the lizard family Xantusiidae. Systematic Zoology 35(1):37-45
2013 Noonan, Brice P., Jennifer B. Pramuk, Robert L. Bezy, Elizabeth A. Sinclair, Kevin de Queiroz, and Jack W. Sites, Jr. Phylogenetic relationships within the lizard clade Xantusiidae: Using trees and divergence times to address evolutionary questions at multiple levels. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 69(2013):109-122

THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY — Accessed: Monday 20 July 2026 11:27 CT