Class Reptilia
Order Squamata
Suborder Sauria
Family Phrynosomatidae
Fig. 1. Uta stansburiana photograph by Carl S. Lieb.
Another small lizard widespread in the Southwest, the Side-blotched Lizard is a reptile of arid, sparsely vegetated areas. Absence from the full-glacial deposits of Dry Cave (which were carefully picked for small herptiles by J. Applegarth) implies absence from the area in pluvial times; Davis and Verbeek (1972) thought that these lizards were limited to areas warm enough to allow maturity after only one hibernation period. Thus absence from Eddy County likely was due to low warm-season temperatures (Applegarth 1979).
Sites.
Late Wisconsin/Holocene: Howell's Ridge Cave (Van Devender and Worthington 1977).
Literature. Applegarth 1979; Davis and Verbeek 1972; Van Devender and Worthington 1977.
Last Update: 4 Nov 2008