turtles lizards snakes
frogs
Reptiles of the United States  
  Home Email Site map
A Guide to the Reptiles &
Amphibians of the United States
Home snakes lizards Turtles turtles salamanders
Snakes of the U.S.
UDG-Banner (55K)
 



San Diegan Legless Lizard Range Map






San Diegan Legless Lizard Video




San Diegan Legless Lizard Juvenile

Home »» Lizards »» Anniellidae (California Legless Lizards) »» San Diegan Legless Lizard (Anniella stebbinsi)


San Diegan Legless Lizard (Anniella stebbinsi)Near Threatened





Description: The Southern California legless lizard is small and slender, with no legs, a shovel-shaped snout, smooth shiny scales, and a blunt tail. On close observation, eyelids are also present, making clear that the species are lizards and not snakes. Its dorsum is light olive-brown, with strong yellow sides, and its ventral colour is moderate yellow. It also has a black mid-dorsal stripe with the length of less than one scale wide that stretches from the parietals to the tip of the tail, and multiple black stripes that are one scale wide from the eye to the tip of the tail. The holotype is adult female measuring 5.2 inches in snout–vent length with 3.2 inches regenerated tail.


Habitat: legless lizards are found in a wider range of habitats than any other species in the genus, mostly found in coastal sand dunes and a variety of interior habitats, including sandy washes and alluvial fans. They live mostly underground, burrowing in the loose, sandy soil.


Range: Range includes southwestern California south of the Transverse Ranges, with disjunct populations to the north in the Tehachapi Mountains and Piute Mountains, and northwestern Baja California; south to Arroyo Pabellon, northwestern Baja California, and inland in Baja California to at least La Rumarosa north of the Sierra Juarez; also Los Coronados and Todos Santos islands in Baja California. Elevational range extends from sea level to at least 900 meters.

Continuous sandy habitat extends along Caliente Creek between Caliente Post Office and the Sand Ridge Preserve, the type locality for A. grinnelli. Additional fieldwork is needed to document the location of an almost certain contact between these two species. Contact between A. stebbinsi and A. pulchra is likely along the coast of California between the cities of Santa Barbara and Oxnard and along the southeastern slope of the Tehachapi Mountains, where A. pulchra is common in Joshua-tree/juniper woodland.


Found in these States: CA


Diet: Eats primarily larval insects, beetles, termites, and spiders. Conceals itself beneath leaf litter or substrate then ambushes its prey.


Reproduction: The reproductive season begins with mating activities in late spring or early summer. The gestation period is about 4 months. Live young are born in September, October, or even November. Litter size ranges from one to four but two is common .


Status: Range extends from southwestern California to northwestern Baja California; dozens of extant occurrences, but much habitat has been lost/degraded by urbanization in southern coastal California; locally common in remaining habitat; continuing decline in extent and quality of habitat.


Subspecies: None


Taxonomy:

»» Kingdom: Animalia - Animals
   »» Phylum: Chordata - Chordates
     »» Subphylum: Vertebrata - Vertebrates
       »» Class: Reptilia - Reptiles
         »» Order: Squamata - Lizards
           »» Family: Anniellidae - California Legless Lizards
             »» Genus: Anniella
               »» Species: Anniella stebbinsi - San Diegan Legless Lizard

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Anniella stebbinsi", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0. Content may have been omitted from the original, but no content has been changed or extended.

 

 

 

 


Recommended Books at Amazon.com


Handbook of Lizards: Lizards of the United States and of Canada     Lizards of the World: A Guide to Every Family     Texas Lizards: A Field Guide     National Geographic Readers: Lizards



DISCLAIMER: We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn advertising fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated websites.

 

 
 

Disclaimer: ITIS taxonomy is based on the latest scientific consensus available, and is provided as a general reference source for interested parties. However, it is not a legal authority for statutory or regulatory purposes. While every effort has been made to provide the most reliable and up-to-date information available, ultimate legal requirements with respect to species are contained in provisions of treaties to which the United States is a party, wildlife statutes, regulations, and any applicable notices that have been published in the Federal Register. For further information on U.S. legal requirements with respect to protected taxa, please contact the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

 
Copyright © 2008 - Herpedia™.com