Chihuahuan Spotted Whiptail (Aspidoscelis exsanguis)
Description: The Chihuahuan spotted whiptail grows from 9.5 to 12 inches in length. It is typically a reddish-brown in color, with six lighter colored stripes that run the length of the body, with spotting between the stripes. The underside is white or sometimes pale blue. It is slender-bodied with a tail nearly three times its body length.
Habitat: This species can be found in many kinds of mostly arid habitat, including desert, desert grassland, dry basin forests, and oak, pine, and juniper woodland, where it lives in washes and canyons.
Range: The range extends from the upper Rio Grande, Pecos River, and Canadian River valleys of New Mexico southward through western Texas to central Chihuahua (Rio Conchos and Rio Papigochic drainage basins) and westward to southeastern Arizona and northeastern Sonora, at elevations of 2,500 to 8,000 feet asl.
Found in these States:
AZ |
NM |
TX
Diet: Like most whiptailed lizards, the Chihuahua spotted whiptail is diurnal and insectivorous. Eats insects, spiders, and scorpions.
Reproduction: An all-female, parthenogenetic species. Lays 1 to 2 clutches of 1 to 6 eggs, May to August. Eggs hatch in about 45 days.
Status: Listed as Least Concern in view of the fairly large and probably relatively stable extent of occurrence, area of occupancy, number of subpopulations, and population size. No major threats are known.
»» Kingdom: Animalia - Animals
»» Phylum: Chordata - Chordates
»» Subphylum: Vertebrata - Vertebrates
»» Class: Reptilia - Reptiles
»» Order: Squamata - Lizards
»» Family: Teiidae - Whiptails & Racerunner Lizards
»» Genus: Aspidoscelis
»» Species: Aspidoscelis exsanguis - Chihuahuan Spotted Whiptail
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Chihuahuan Spotted Whiptail", 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.
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