Urosaurus ornatus
Silhouette: Gopal Murali · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~80% in a week >90%
Urosaurus ornatus, commonly known as the ornate tree lizard, is a species of lizard in the family Phrynosomatidae. The species is native to the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. The species, which was formerly called simply the "tree lizard", has been used to study physiological changes during the fight-or-flight response as related to stress and aggressive competition. Its life history and costs of reproduction have been documented in field populations in New Mexico and Arizona. This species has been fairly well studied because of its interesting variation in throat color in males (within a population) that can correlate with different reproductive strategies.
The ornate tree lizard may grow to a snout-to-vent length (SVL) of up to 59 millimetres (2.3 in). As adults, all males have paired turquoise patches of skin on the abdomen; females lack this abdominal coloration. Male ornate tree lizards are found in a variety of colors. While not all populations contain more than one or two colors, 9 color types have been documented within U. ornatus. A population documented in Verde River, Arizona, has two types of coloration patterns among male tree lizards... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Guadalupe Mountains National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Grand Canyon National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Saguaro National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Zion National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Big Bend National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Death Valley National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mesa | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Phoenix | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Austin | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | San Antonio | 🇺🇸 United States |
Likely
About 40% of wildlife watchers report an Ornate Tree Lizard sighting in Grand Canyon National Park on a given day, based on 308 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 4th most-seen of the 23 reptiles we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 80%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May and June
In those months about 60% of wildlife watchers report an Ornate Tree Lizard in Grand Canyon National Park on a given day, against under 5% in November to February, the lowest months. Those are among Grand Canyon National Park's driest months, with about 10 mm of rain a month against 40 mm in March.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Ornate Tree 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.
2nd of 6
Of the 6 parks where we can rate Ornate Tree Lizard sightings, Grand Canyon National Park ranks 2nd at about 40%. The best odds are in Guadalupe Mountains National Park (United States, about 60%). All parks ranked.
Same family: Phrynosomatidae
The closest relatives of the Ornate Tree Lizard that you can see in Grand Canyon National Park (family Phrynosomatidae, Phrynosomatid Lizards) are Plateau Fence Lizard (about 60%), Desert Spiny Lizard (about 50%) and Common Side-blotched Lizard (about 50%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Ornate Tree Lizard is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Grand Canyon National Park (308 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
