Anniella stebbinsi
Silhouette: SeismicShrimp · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
Anniella stebbinsi, the Southern California or San Diegan legless lizard, is a small, slender lizard, and, as the name suggests, is legless. Not much is known about the lizard as a unique species, with most observations conducted while it was not recognised as separate from Anniella pulchra, the Californian legless lizard.
The specific name stebbinsi honors Robert C. Stebbins, an American herpetologist. The Southern California legless lizard is small and slender, with no legs, a shovel-shaped snout, smooth shiny scales, and a blunt tail. On close observation, eyelids are also present, making clear that the species are lizards and not snakes. Its dorsum is light olive-brown, with strong yellow sides, and its ventral colour is moderate yellow. It also has a black mid-dorsal stripe with the length of less than one scale wide that stretches from the parietals to the tip of the tail, and multiple black stripes that are one scale wide from the eye to the tip of the tail. The holotype is adult female measuring 132 mm (5.2 in) in snout–vent length with 81 mm (3.2 in) regenerated tail.
This species is found from Southern California to the... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Diego | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Los Angeles | 🇺🇸 United States |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a San Diegan Legless Lizard sighting in San Diego on a given day, based on 64 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 17th most-seen of the 29 reptiles we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January, March and May–June
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a San Diegan Legless Lizard in San Diego on a given day, against under 5% in February, April and July–December, the lowest months.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most San Diegan Legless 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.
Yes
Of the 2 cities where we can rate San Diegan Legless Lizard sightings, San Diego has the highest daily chance: under 5%. Next come Los Angeles (United States, under 5%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the San Diegan Legless Lizard is recorded against all the reptiles logged in San Diego (64 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.
