Description: The Red-Backed Whiptail is a fairly large whiptail with largeplate-like scaleson the pointed head, with an elongated body and tail.The scles on the central rear surface of the forearm are distinctly enlarged. The lizard goes through considerable ontogentic changes in colkoration and pattern and it ages. Juveniles have6-7 light stripes on the neck and body, and light spots in the dark fields between the stripes. THe juvenile tail is slate-blue or slate-gray, usually with at least faint blue tinting. As the lizard age, the stripes fade and the spots usually become more prominent. The spots may be faded in some individuals. The dorsum also becomes dark brown to rusty orange as the lizards age, sometimes with blue or slate-gray on the sides, limbs, tail, and head. The rusty-orange coloration does not, or only slightly extends onto the sides of the body. The adult tail is yellowish-brown to dark brown sometimes with a blue tint.
Habitat: Habitat consists of Sonoran desertscrub and relictual mountaintop semi-desert grasslands, often within unusual plant communities, on higher desert mountains, often on north-facing slopes or mesic canyons but occasionally along drainages or mesas out onto the upper bajadas, such as at the mouth of Alamo Canyon in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument.
Range: Range restricted to southern Arizona and adjacent Sonora, Mexico; occurs primarily in relatively mesic areas of desert mountains.
Status: Listed as Near Threatened because the extent of occurrence is not much larger than 20,000 km2, number of locations probably exceeds 10 by a small margin, and the area of occupancy, number of locations, and population size may be subject to ongoing and near-future declines as a result of climate change, which conceivably could push the species into the Vulnerable category in the near future.
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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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