Description: Crotaphytus reticulatus is a tan to brown lizard with reticulations covering most of its dorsum, limbs, and tail. Some of these reticulations are filled with black pigmentation. Unlike the rest of the species in the genus Crotaphytus, there is no color difference between males and females of C. reticulatus except during the breeding season. During this time, males develop a bright yellow coloration on their chests. The collars on C. reticulatus are faint and the anterior collar is complete ventrally. The dewlap, or gular area, is a greenish-gray with black pigmentation in the center. During the breeding season, the gular area of the female is white to yellow, without the black pigmentation in the center. Symmetrical black spots fill in some of the pattern. The ventral surface is white or a cream color. C. reticulatus grows to a total length (including tail) of 16 inches. Males have a black collar around the neck, and yellow chest and throat markings. Females develop orange bars along the underside when about to lay eggs. Collared lizards have small pockets at the base of the tail and folds of skin above the front legs. Mites and chiggers gather in these areas. C. reticulatus lacks the postfemoral mite pockets present in the rest of the genus. This suggests this genus broke away from the ancestral group first. C. reticulatus has black oral melanin and black femoral pore secretions. The rest of the genus, except C. antiquus, has gray secretions.

Habitat: This lizard inhabits thorn-scrub vegetation, usually on well-drained rolling terrain of shallow gravel, caliche, or sandy soils. It often occurs on scattered flat rocks below escarpments or isolated rock outcrops among scattered clumps of prickly-pear and mesquite, but it also commonly ranges into mesquite flats far from the nearest rocky habitat, and it is absent on some rocky outcroppings along the margins of bluffs where other Crotaphytus species might be expected to occur. Fence posts or the branches of mesquite trees may be used a basking perches. As in Gambelia, when approached, this collared lizard often runs to the base of a shrub and remains motionless. Eggs are laid probably under large rocks or underground.

Range: Its range includes the US state of Texas and the Mexican states of Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas.

Found in these States: TX

Diet: Eats mostly arthropods; also sometimes small reptiles, mice, and plant matter .

Reproduction: Lays 8 to 11 eggs in midsummer. Eggs hatch in 60 to 90 days.

Status: The geographic range of the species C. reticulatus is declining due to habitat destruction and possibly climate change. The reticulated collared lizard is the only crotaphytid species in the United States that is protected from collection.

Subspecies: None

Taxonomy: