Blue Spiny Lizard

ORDER: Squamata

FAMILY: Iguanidae

GENUS: Sceloporus

SPECIES: cyanogenys

DESCRIPTION:

Three to five inches in length. This is a stocky, usually light-colored lizard with a black wedge-shaped mark on each side of the neck. They are straw-colored, yellow, yellowish-brown, or brown above, with dusky spots or crossbands that usually fade with age. Sides are often tinted rust and head is sometimes orange. The male has a blue-green patch on the throat and on each side of the belly. The scales of the back feel very rough, for each scale bears a keel ending in a sharp spine.

GEOGRAPHICAL RANGE AND HABITAT:

Inhabits arid and semiarid regions on plains and lower slopes of mountains. Found in deserts, grassland, woodland, scrub and along rivers grown to willows and cottonwoods. Range is nw. Nevada and s. Utah to tip of Baja California, nw. Sinaloa and sw. Coahuila, inner Coast Ranges and desert of southern California to New Mexico and west Texas.

DIET:

Insects, lizards, and occasionally buds, flowers, berries and leaves.

LIFE CYCLE/SOCIAL STRUCTURE:

A good climber of rocks and trees, but also found on the ground. Seeks shelter in crevices, under logs and burrows. A clutch of 4-19 eggs are laid May to June. More than one clutch may be laid per season.

SPECIAL ADAPTATIONS:

These lizards require quite high temperatures. They capture prey when the temperature exceeds 30 degrees C. but can only digest it at 37 degrees C. or more. The tail can break off as an escape mechanism.

INTERPRETIVE INFORMATION::

In disputes the male bobs his head very frequently, moving it up and down with incredible speed. A weaker male will flee. If the rival doesn’t withdraw, he will turn broadside and flatten his body so as to present the greatest area and display the glowing blue of the belly. If the bobbing male, seeking to mate, approaches an unreceptive female, she arches her back, distends her body and hops to the side with little jumps.

OUR ANIMALS:

2 Males. 7 Females.

STATUS IN THE WILD:

Not endangered.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

1. Grzimek, Bernhard. 1984. Grzimek’s Animal Life Encyclopedia. Van Nostrand Reinhold Co. New York City, NY.
2. Stebbins, Robert. 1985. Western Reptiles and Amphibians. Houghton Mifflin Co. Boston, MA, p. 127-128.