Description: The plateau spotted whiptail grows up to 9 inches and in other cases over a foot. It has four limbs with the hind limbs almost double the length of the forelimbs. It is covered on the back and sides with little granular scales of about the same size. The underbelly is covered with a much larger scale which looks platelike. In females it is light colored and dark blue in males coupled with an orange chin during mating. On the back are 6 or 7 pale tan stripes that run horizontally from the neck to the top of its tail. Numerous random spots find home between these lines,giving the whiptail its peculiar name. The tail which is over 60% of its total body length is rust colored and transforms into a bright blue color at the tip.

Habitat: Habitat includes rocky terrain with sparse vegetation, from canyons and low desert foothills to mountains. Eggs are laid underground.

Range: Taxonomic ambiguities obscure the range of this species. The range minimally extends from the Big Bend region of southwestern Texas south into northern Mexico.

Found in these States: TX

Diet: Like other species of whiptail lizard, the Plateau spotted whiptail is diurnal and insectivorous.

Reproduction: Breeding takes place in the spring, with females laying eggs in the mid summer, which hatch six to eight weeks later.

Status: Taxonomic uncertainties exist with this species. It was initially assessed at the workshop as part of A. gularis. Regardless of the potential taxonomic split, this species is 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.

Subspecies: Two, with one found in the United States:
   No Common Name - (Aspidoscelis scalaris scalaris)
   Big Bend Spotted Whiptail - (Aspidoscelis scalaris septemvittatus)

Taxonomy: