Sceloporus uniformis
Silhouette: SeismicShrimp · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~60% in a week ~80%
Sceloporus uniformis, also known as the yellow-backed spiny lizard, is a reptile of the family Phrynosomatidae. It is native to the Mojave, Great Basin, and San Joaquin deserts. Until recently, it was considered to be a subspecies of Sceloporus magister.
Sceloporus uniformis was originally described as a subspecies of Sceloporus magister in 1955. In 2006, genetic analysis revealed that S. uniformis is sufficiently distinct to merit classification as its own species. S. uniformis is a large robust lizard, and adults can grow to 5.5 inches in body length (snout-to-vent), with a tail slightly longer than the body. Color is brown or tan with yellow and black dorsal stripes or mottling and a black collar on the sides of the neck.
Males are larger than females, and have a swollen tail base, enlarged postanal scales and femoral pores, and bluish markings on the throat and belly. Females have a pale throat and underbelly, with faint or no blue markings. The head of a female may be orange or reddish in the breeding season.
This lizard is native to the Mojave, Great Basin, and San Joaquin deserts. It is endemic to the United States... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zion National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Death Valley National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Joshua Tree National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Las Vegas | 🇺🇸 United States |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Yellow-backed Spiny Lizard sighting in Las Vegas on a given day, based on 78 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 3rd most-seen of the 15 reptiles we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 60%, and over a week to about 80%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May to July
In those months about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Yellow-backed Spiny Lizard in Las Vegas on a given day, against under 5% in December to February, the lowest months. Those are among Las Vegas's driest months, with about 5 mm of rain a month against 25 mm in February.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Yellow-backed Spiny Lizard sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Las Vegas, in our data
Las Vegas is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Yellow-backed Spiny Lizard sightings: about 20% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Yellow-backed Spiny Lizard is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Las Vegas (78 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
