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Gambelia sila

January 01, 1970

Gambelia sila, commonly known as the blunt-nosed leopard lizard, is a species of lizard in the family Crotaphytidae. The species is endemic to southern California.

Gambelia sila
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Iguania
Family: Crotaphytidae
Genus: Gambelia
Species:
G. sila
Binomial name
Gambelia sila
(Stejneger, 1890)
Synonyms[2]
  • Crotaphytus silus
    Stejneger, 1890
  • Gambelia wislizenii silus
    — H.M. Smith, 1946
  • Gambelia silus
    — Stebbins, 1985
  • Gambelia sila
    — Frost & Collins, 1988

Taxonomy edit

Gambelia sila was originally described by Leonhard Stejneger in 1890 as Crotaphytus silus. The type locality is Fresno, California. In 1900 Cope believed the lizard to be a subspecies of the long-nosed leopard lizard, C. wislizenii, and classified it as C. w. silus. Based on differences in bony plates on the head, the presence or absence of gular folds, and head shape, Crotaphytus silus was reclassified into the genus Gambelia by H.M. Smith in 1946, retaining the specific name "silus ". Gambelia is the generic name for leopard lizards in the family Crotaphytidae. Gambelia sila is similar to the lizards in the genus Crotaphytus, the difference is that the latter have fracture planes in their tails. This allows the tails to break off when grasped by predators. This reclassification remained controversial until Montanucci in 1970 proposed the argument for specific classification based on the differences between the long-nosed and blunt-nosed leopard lizards. Eventually the scientific name was changed from "Gambelia silus " to "Gambelia sila " to agree in gender.

Geographic range edit

Gambelia sila is found only in Southern California. It used to be found in the San Joaquin Valley and adjacent foothills ranging from Stanislaus County, in the south, to the northern tip of Santa Barbara County. However, it is only found in elevations of 800 meters (2,600 feet) and below. Gambelia sila can now only be found in isolated sections of undeveloped land in the San Joaquin Valley. In the northern part of the San Joaquin Valley it can be found in the Ciervo Hills, Tumey Hills, Panoche Hills, Anticline Ridge, Pleasant Valley, and the Lone Tree, Sandy Mush Road, Whites Bridge, Horse Pasture, and Kettleman Hills Essential Habitat Areas. In the southern part of the San Joaquin Valley it can be found in Pixley National Wildlife Refuge, Liberty Farm, Allensworth, Kern National Wildlife Refuge, Antelope Plain, Buttonwillow, Elk Hills, Lost Hills, and Tupman Essential Habitat Areas; on the Carrizo and Elkhorn Plains; north of Bakersfield around Poso Creek; in western Kern County in the area around the towns of Maricopa, McKittrick, and Taft; at the Kern Front Oil Field; at the base of the Tehachapi Mountains on the Tejon Ranch; and just west of the California Aqueduct on the Tejon Ranch and Rancho San Emidio.

Diet edit

The diet of Gambelia sila mainly consists of an assortment of invertebrates and other lizards. The insects that it normally preys on are: grasshoppers, beetles, bees, wasps, and ants. The blunt-nosed leopard lizard is also known to eat other species of lizards, and sometimes eats its own offspring. It is an agile predator, with the ability to leap 60 centimetres (2 feet), making it very easy for it to catch its prey.

Physical characteristics edit

The blunt-nosed leopard lizard (Gambelia sila) is a relatively large lizard in the family Crotaphytidae. It has a long, regenerative tail; long, powerful hind limbs; and a short, blunt snout. Adult males are slightly larger than females, ranging in size from 3.4 to 4.7 inches (86 to 119 mm) in length, excluding tail. Females are 3.4 to 4.4 inches (86 to 112 mm). Males weigh 1.3 to 1.5 ounces (37 to 43 g), females 0.8 to 1.2 ounces (23 to 34 g). Although the blunt-nosed leopard lizard is darker than other leopard lizards, it exhibits tremendous variation in dorsal color and pattern. The background color ranges from yellowish or light gray-brown to dark brown, depending on the surrounding soil color and vegetation. The underside is uniformly white. It has rows of dark spots across the back, alternating with white, cream-colored or yellow bands. Gambelia sila is relatively unique among crotaphytids in that sexes cannot be distinguished by permanent coloration and patterning, but both males and females develop breeding coloration, and these colors and patterns differ markedly between them. Also, unlike almost all other crotaphytids, juvenile G. sila obtain a yellow coloring under the hind limbs and tails. The signs of yellow coloration in young G. sila might indicate that some type of signal is being sent to adult leopard lizards, although no testing has been done. Possibly the purpose of yellow coloration is to signal to adults that carriers are too small to breed, and, therefore, do not pose a competitive threat. Conversely, the bright yellow coloration of juveniles could serve as a means of avoiding predators.

Breeding edit

In G. sila the breeding season is initiated in April and lasts into or through June. Male and female pairs are commonly seen together and often occupying the same burrow systems. In June and July, 2-6 eggs averaging 15.6 by 25.8 mm (0.61 by 1.02 in) are laid. Environmental conditions may influence the number of clutches females produce each year, but they usually lay only one clutch. After about a two-month incubation period, the young hatch. They range in size at birth from 42 to 48 mm (1.7 to 1.9 in), excluding tail. Some young blunt-nosed leopard lizards may grow to double their hatching size prior to their first winter. During the breeding season, females are recognized by the bright red-orange markings on the sides of the head and body and the undersides of the thighs and tail. Males may also develop a color of salmon to bright rusty-red over the entire undersides of the body and limbs. This new coloring may continue indefinitely in males. Male and female blunt-nosed leopard lizards exhibit several different physical behaviors. The simple headbob is a single, vertical motion of only the head whereas the pushup involves an up and down movement of the forelimbs and a headbob. Rocking and fighting displays are restricted to males. Rocking involves rotating the head and shoulders in a forward, circular motion. When one male encounters another, it exhibits a threat-challenge display. It consists of inflating the body, extending the hind limbs, arching the back, and performing pushups in rapid succession. Two fighting males will align side by side while facing in opposite directions. Each will then attempt to bite the other as they lash their tails and jump toward each other. Females exhibit a rejection posture when a male attempts copulation. With back arched, body inflated, limbs extended, and mouth open, she always faces the male or moves to orient herself laterally to the male.

Conservation status edit

Gambelia sila, also known as the blunt-nosed leopard lizard, is listed as a federal endangered species and is listed by the State of California as an endangered species and fully protected species. This species is thought to have declined as a result of habitat destruction and habitat fragmentation caused by development and habitat modification. This lizard used to be found in all of the San Joaquin Valley and the adjacent foothills of southern California. The Blunt-nosed leopard lizard now only occupies a few, scattered, undeveloped plots of land on the floor of the San Joaquin Valley and in the foothills of the Coast Range. San Joaquin Valley is a desert experiencing an ecological shift due to invasive species of non-native annual grasses most likely spread by grazing cows. The blunt-nosed leopard lizard along with other small terrestrial vertebrates are declining due to the ecological changes of the San Joaquin Valley as it is hypothesized that the invasive plants are altering vegetative structure. Although cattle may have originally been a factor in the establishment of these invasive species of plants, it was discovered by David Germano et al. that continued grazing, in order to keep the spread of the grasses limited, allowed for an increase in population size of not only the blunt-nosed leopard lizard, but other suffering species of the Valley as well.


Sources edit

  • Hammerson, G.A. (2007). "Gambelia sila". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2007: e.T40690A10336468. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2007.RLTS.T40690A10336468.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021. Listed as Endangered (EN A1ce v2.3)
  • "Gambelia sila ". ITIS (Integrated Taxonomic Information System). www.itis.gov. Retrieved on 10-26-2012.
  • CSU Stanislaus (2006), Endangered Species Recovery Program, Dept. of Biological Sciences, One University Circle, Turlock, California 95382. http://esrp.csustan.edu/publications/pubhtml.php?doc=sjvrp&file=chapter02K00.html. Retrieved on 10-26-2012.
  • Blunt-nosed Leopard Lizard (Gambelia sila). Arkive.com. Wildscreen, n.d. Web. 24 Oct. 2012. .
  • Germano, David J. (2007). "Food Habits of the Blunt-Nosed Leopard Lizard". Southwestern Naturalist 52 (2): 318-23. BioOne. 6 Oct. 2010. Web. 24 Oct. 2012. [2]
  • Germano DJ, Williams DF (1993). "Recovery of the blunt-nosed leopard lizard: past efforts, present knowledge, and future opportunities". Trans. West. Sec. Wildl. Soc. 28: 38-47.
  • Montanucci RR (1965). "Observations on the San Joaquin leopard lizard, Crotaphytus wislizenii silus Stejneger". Herpetologica 21: 270-283.
  • Stebbins RC (1985). A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians, Second Edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. 336 pp.
  • Tollestrup K (1983). "The social behavior of two species of closely related leopard lizards, Gambelia silus and Gambelia wislizenii ". J. Tierpsychol. 62: 307-320.
  • United States Fish and Wildlife Service (1985). Blunt-nosed leopard lizard revised recovery plan. Portland, Oregon: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 85 pp.

References edit

  1. ^ Hammerson, G.A. (2007). "Gambelia sila". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2007: e.T40690A10336468. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2007.RLTS.T40690A10336468.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. ^ "Gambelia sila ". The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.

Further reading edit

  • Behler JL, King FW (1979). The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Reptiles and Amphibians. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. 743 pp., 657 color plates. ISBN 0-394-50824-6. (Gambelia silus, pp. 507–508 + Plate 347).
  • McGuire, Jimmy A. (1996). "Phylogenetic Systematics of Crotaphytid Lizards (Reptilia: Iguania: Crotaphytidae)". Bull. Carn. Mus. Nat. Hist. (32): 1-142. (Gambelia silus, pp. 102–106).
  • Smith HM, Brodie ED Jr (1982). Reptiles of North America: A Guide to Field Identification. New York: Golden Press. 240 pp. ISBN 0-307-13666-3 (paperback), ISBN 0-307-47009-1 (hardcover). (Gambelia silus, pp. 108–109).
  • Stejneger L (1890). "Annotated List of Reptiles and Batrachians Collected by Dr. C. Hart Merriam and Vernon Bailey on the San Francisco Plateau and Desert of the Little Colorado, Arizona, with Descriptions of New Species". North American Fauna 3: 103-118. (Crotaphytus silus, new species, p. 105).

January 01, 1970
gambelia, sila, commonly, known, blunt, nosed, leopard, lizard, species, lizard, family, crotaphytidae, species, endemic, southern, california, conservation, status, endangered, iucn, scientific, classification, domain, eukaryota, kingdom, animalia, phylum, ch. Gambelia sila commonly known as the blunt nosed leopard lizard is a species of lizard in the family Crotaphytidae The species is endemic to southern California Gambelia sila Conservation status Endangered IUCN 3 1 1 Scientific classification Domain Eukaryota Kingdom Animalia Phylum Chordata Class Reptilia Order Squamata Suborder Iguania Family Crotaphytidae Genus Gambelia Species G sila Binomial name Gambelia sila Stejneger 1890 Synonyms 2 Crotaphytus silus Stejneger 1890 Gambelia wislizenii silus H M Smith 1946 Gambelia silus Stebbins 1985 Gambelia sila Frost amp Collins 1988 Contents 1 Taxonomy 2 Geographic range 3 Diet 4 Physical characteristics 5 Breeding 6 Conservation status 7 Sources 8 References 9 Further readingTaxonomy editGambelia sila was originally described by Leonhard Stejneger in 1890 as Crotaphytus silus The type locality is Fresno California In 1900 Cope believed the lizard to be a subspecies of the long nosed leopard lizard C wislizenii and classified it as C w silus Based on differences in bony plates on the head the presence or absence of gular folds and head shape Crotaphytus silus was reclassified into the genus Gambelia by H M Smith in 1946 retaining the specific name silus Gambelia is the generic name for leopard lizards in the family Crotaphytidae Gambelia sila is similar to the lizards in the genus Crotaphytus the difference is that the latter have fracture planes in their tails This allows the tails to break off when grasped by predators This reclassification remained controversial until Montanucci in 1970 proposed the argument for specific classification based on the differences between the long nosed and blunt nosed leopard lizards Eventually the scientific name was changed from Gambelia silus to Gambelia sila to agree in gender Geographic range editGambelia sila is found only in Southern California It used to be found in the San Joaquin Valley and adjacent foothills ranging from Stanislaus County in the south to the northern tip of Santa Barbara County However it is only found in elevations of 800 meters 2 600 feet and below Gambelia sila can now only be found in isolated sections of undeveloped land in the San Joaquin Valley In the northern part of the San Joaquin Valley it can be found in the Ciervo Hills Tumey Hills Panoche Hills Anticline Ridge Pleasant Valley and the Lone Tree Sandy Mush Road Whites Bridge Horse Pasture and Kettleman Hills Essential Habitat Areas In the southern part of the San Joaquin Valley it can be found in Pixley National Wildlife Refuge Liberty Farm Allensworth Kern National Wildlife Refuge Antelope Plain Buttonwillow Elk Hills Lost Hills and Tupman Essential Habitat Areas on the Carrizo and Elkhorn Plains north of Bakersfield around Poso Creek in western Kern County in the area around the towns of Maricopa McKittrick and Taft at the Kern Front Oil Field at the base of the Tehachapi Mountains on the Tejon Ranch and just west of the California Aqueduct on the Tejon Ranch and Rancho San Emidio Diet editThe diet of Gambelia sila mainly consists of an assortment of invertebrates and other lizards The insects that it normally preys on are grasshoppers beetles bees wasps and ants The blunt nosed leopard lizard is also known to eat other species of lizards and sometimes eats its own offspring It is an agile predator with the ability to leap 60 centimetres 2 feet making it very easy for it to catch its prey Physical characteristics editThe blunt nosed leopard lizard Gambelia sila is a relatively large lizard in the family Crotaphytidae It has a long regenerative tail long powerful hind limbs and a short blunt snout Adult males are slightly larger than females ranging in size from 3 4 to 4 7 inches 86 to 119 mm in length excluding tail Females are 3 4 to 4 4 inches 86 to 112 mm Males weigh 1 3 to 1 5 ounces 37 to 43 g females 0 8 to 1 2 ounces 23 to 34 g Although the blunt nosed leopard lizard is darker than other leopard lizards it exhibits tremendous variation in dorsal color and pattern The background color ranges from yellowish or light gray brown to dark brown depending on the surrounding soil color and vegetation The underside is uniformly white It has rows of dark spots across the back alternating with white cream colored or yellow bands Gambelia sila is relatively unique among crotaphytids in that sexes cannot be distinguished by permanent coloration and patterning but both males and females develop breeding coloration and these colors and patterns differ markedly between them Also unlike almost all other crotaphytids juvenile G sila obtain a yellow coloring under the hind limbs and tails The signs of yellow coloration in young G sila might indicate that some type of signal is being sent to adult leopard lizards although no testing has been done Possibly the purpose of yellow coloration is to signal to adults that carriers are too small to breed and therefore do not pose a competitive threat Conversely the bright yellow coloration of juveniles could serve as a means of avoiding predators Breeding editIn G sila the breeding season is initiated in April and lasts into or through June Male and female pairs are commonly seen together and often occupying the same burrow systems In June and July 2 6 eggs averaging 15 6 by 25 8 mm 0 61 by 1 02 in are laid Environmental conditions may influence the number of clutches females produce each year but they usually lay only one clutch After about a two month incubation period the young hatch They range in size at birth from 42 to 48 mm 1 7 to 1 9 in excluding tail Some young blunt nosed leopard lizards may grow to double their hatching size prior to their first winter During the breeding season females are recognized by the bright red orange markings on the sides of the head and body and the undersides of the thighs and tail Males may also develop a color of salmon to bright rusty red over the entire undersides of the body and limbs This new coloring may continue indefinitely in males Male and female blunt nosed leopard lizards exhibit several different physical behaviors The simple headbob is a single vertical motion of only the head whereas the pushup involves an up and down movement of the forelimbs and a headbob Rocking and fighting displays are restricted to males Rocking involves rotating the head and shoulders in a forward circular motion When one male encounters another it exhibits a threat challenge display It consists of inflating the body extending the hind limbs arching the back and performing pushups in rapid succession Two fighting males will align side by side while facing in opposite directions Each will then attempt to bite the other as they lash their tails and jump toward each other Females exhibit a rejection posture when a male attempts copulation With back arched body inflated limbs extended and mouth open she always faces the male or moves to orient herself laterally to the male Conservation status editGambelia sila also known as the blunt nosed leopard lizard is listed as a federal endangered species and is listed by the State of California as an endangered species and fully protected species This species is thought to have declined as a result of habitat destruction and habitat fragmentation caused by development and habitat modification This lizard used to be found in all of the San Joaquin Valley and the adjacent foothills of southern California The Blunt nosed leopard lizard now only occupies a few scattered undeveloped plots of land on the floor of the San Joaquin Valley and in the foothills of the Coast Range San Joaquin Valley is a desert experiencing an ecological shift due to invasive species of non native annual grasses most likely spread by grazing cows The blunt nosed leopard lizard along with other small terrestrial vertebrates are declining due to the ecological changes of the San Joaquin Valley as it is hypothesized that the invasive plants are altering vegetative structure Although cattle may have originally been a factor in the establishment of these invasive species of plants it was discovered by David Germano et al that continued grazing in order to keep the spread of the grasses limited allowed for an increase in population size of not only the blunt nosed leopard lizard but other suffering species of the Valley as well Sources editThis article includes a list of general references but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations July 2013 Learn how and when to remove this message Hammerson G A 2007 Gambelia sila IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2007 e T40690A10336468 doi 10 2305 IUCN UK 2007 RLTS T40690A10336468 en Retrieved 12 November 2021 Listed as Endangered EN A1ce v2 3 Gambelia sila ITIS Integrated Taxonomic Information System www itis gov Retrieved on 10 26 2012 CSU Stanislaus 2006 Endangered Species Recovery Program Dept of Biological Sciences One University Circle Turlock California 95382 http esrp csustan edu publications pubhtml php doc sjvrp amp file chapter02K00 html Retrieved on 10 26 2012 Blunt nosed Leopard Lizard Gambelia sila Arkive com Wildscreen n d Web 24 Oct 2012 1 Germano David J 2007 Food Habits of the Blunt Nosed Leopard Lizard Southwestern Naturalist 52 2 318 23 BioOne 6 Oct 2010 Web 24 Oct 2012 2 Germano DJ Williams DF 1993 Recovery of the blunt nosed leopard lizard past efforts present knowledge and future opportunities Trans West Sec Wildl Soc 28 38 47 Montanucci RR 1965 Observations on the San Joaquin leopard lizard Crotaphytus wislizenii silus Stejneger Herpetologica 21 270 283 Stebbins RC 1985 A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians Second Edition Boston Houghton Mifflin Company 336 pp Tollestrup K 1983 The social behavior of two species of closely related leopard lizards Gambelia silus and Gambelia wislizenii J Tierpsychol 62 307 320 United States Fish and Wildlife Service 1985 Blunt nosed leopard lizard revised recovery plan Portland Oregon U S Fish and Wildlife Service 85 pp References edit Hammerson G A 2007 Gambelia sila IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2007 e T40690A10336468 doi 10 2305 IUCN UK 2007 RLTS T40690A10336468 en Retrieved 12 November 2021 Gambelia sila The Reptile Database www reptile database org Further reading editBehler JL King FW 1979 The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Reptiles and Amphibians New York Alfred A Knopf 743 pp 657 color plates ISBN 0 394 50824 6 Gambelia silus pp 507 508 Plate 347 McGuire Jimmy A 1996 Phylogenetic Systematics of Crotaphytid Lizards Reptilia Iguania Crotaphytidae Bull Carn Mus Nat Hist 32 1 142 Gambelia silus pp 102 106 Smith HM Brodie ED Jr 1982 Reptiles of North America A Guide to Field Identification New York Golden Press 240 pp ISBN 0 307 13666 3 paperback ISBN 0 307 47009 1 hardcover Gambelia silus pp 108 109 Stejneger L 1890 Annotated List of Reptiles and Batrachians Collected by Dr C Hart Merriam and Vernon Bailey on the San Francisco Plateau and Desert of the Little Colorado Arizona with Descriptions of New Species North American Fauna 3 103 118 Crotaphytus silus new species p 105 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Gambelia sila amp oldid 1214080139, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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