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Abbreviation Legend

  • (CE) - Criticially Endangered
  • (CI) - Critically Imperiled
  • (E) - Endangered
  • (I) - Introduced
  • (IM) - Imperiled
  • (NT) - Near Threatened
  • (T) - Threatened
  • (V) - Vulnerable
  • (**) - Recent Classification Change
Home »» Lizards »» Teiidae (Whiptail and Racerunner Lizards)

Whiptail and Racerunner Lizards of the United States


Teiidae are long slender lizards with long whiplike tails and well developed legs. Movements are characteristically rapid and jerky. They range from 4 to 48 inches in length. Typically they have small round, non overlapping scales on the back and large rectangular scales on the underside. There are no bony plates (oteoderms) in the skin. The large regular head shields are fused to the skull.

Whiptails are diurnal, terrestrial carnivores. Small species feed on insects and other invertebrates, while large species consume small mammals, birds and bird eggs, and other reptiles. Prey is located both by sight and by smell or taste, by means of a long deeply forked tongue. All teiids are egg layers. In most species, females produce fertile eggs only after breeding with males of the same species. However, there are true unisexual species among Cnemidophorus. All individuals are females, so there is no mating. A mature female lays fertile, but unfertilized, eggs that hatch into more females.

There are 25 species, representing 4 genus, found in the United States with 20 species being native and 5 species being Introduced.

(I)

Giant Ameiva
(Ameiva ameiva)
(I)

Borriguerro Ameiva
(Ameiva praesignis)

Chihuahuan Spotted Whiptail
(Aspidoscelis exsanguis)

Gila Spotted Whiptail
(Aspidoscelis flagellicauda)

Common Spotted Whiptail
(Aspidoscelis gularis)

Orange-Throated Whiptail
(Aspidoscelis hyperythrus)

Little Striped Whiptail
(Aspidoscelis inornatus)

Laredo Striped Whiptail
(Aspidoscelis laredoensis)

Marbled Whiptail
(Aspidoscelis marmoratus)

Giant Whiptail
(Aspidoscelis motaguae)

New Mexico Whiptail
(Aspidoscelis neomexicanus)
(NT)

Triploid Checkered Whiptail
(Aspidoscelis neotesselatus)

Pai Striped Whiptail
(Aspidoscelis pai)

Plateau Spotted Whiptail
(Aspidoscelis scalaris)

Six-Lined Racerunner
(Aspidoscelis sexlineatus)

Sonoran Spotted Whiptail
(Aspidoscelis sonorae)

Giant Spotted Whiptail
(Aspidoscelis stictogrammus)

Common Checkered Whiptail
(Aspidoscelis tesselata )

Western Whiptail
(Aspidoscelis tigris)

Desert Grassland Whiptail
(Aspidoscelis uniparens)

Plateau Striped Whiptail
(Aspidoscelis velox)

Red-Backed Whiptail
(Aspidoscelis xanthonotus)
(I)

Rainbow Whiptail
(Cnemidophorus lemniscatus)
(I)

Argentine Black & White Tegu
(Salvator merianae)
(I)

Red Tegu
(Salvator rufescens)
 

 

 

 

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



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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.

 
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