Adult male, 200′, Sonora, Mexico
Adult male, 200′, Sonora, Mexico
Adult male, 200′, Sonora, Mexico
Adult male, 200′, Sonora, Mexico
Venter of adult male, 200′, Sonora, Mexico
Female showing gravid coloration, 200′, Sonora, Mexico
Subadult male, 200′, Sonora, Mexico
Juvenile male, 200′, Sonora, Mexico
DICKERSON’S COLLARED LIZARD
Crotaphytus dickersonae – Schmidt 1922
IDENTIFICATION:
DISTRIBUTION:
This colorful species is found only in a narrow band of rocky hills along the coast of Sonora, Mexico from the town of El Desemboque south to Bahia Kino Nuevo; it is also found on Isla Tiburon in the Gulf of California. They are found from near sea level to the highest peaks of these hills, which are just a few hundred meters in elevation.
HABITAT:
This lizard inhabits Sonoran upland and rocky coastal desert sites. It is most common on the low-mid rocky slopes of ridges and hills.
Habitat, 200′, Sonora, Mexico
NATURAL HISTORY:
This species is saxicolous and is most often observed perched on rocks and rock outcrops. Male and female Crotaphytus dickersonae display their breeding coloration in April, and females are thought to lay their eggs in May and June. Smaller lizards are a large part of the diet of Crotaphytus dickersonae. This species will bask during the heat of the day in temperatures that are too extreme for other lizards. When frightened, collared lizards have the ability to run on their hind legs (bipedal motion) for short distances.
TAXONOMY:
In the Crotaphytus collaris species group, its closest relatives are C. collaris and C. nebrius.
TYPE:
Described as Crotaphytus dickersonae by K. P. Schmidt (1922). Holotype: USNM 64451. Type locality: Tiburon Island, Sonora, Mexico.
PERSONAL NOTES:
I found C. dickersonae in 2004 and 2005 at the same locality in coastal Sonora, Mexico. Males seemed to outnumber females by a large margin, but this may have been due to the activity patterns of the sexes. Males basked on open boulders and were ubiquitous due to their gawdy coloration, while the few females we found were often flushed from terrestrial locations beneath large bushes and cactus patches. Other species of reptiles I observed here are: Dipsosaurus dorsalis sonoriensis, Aspidoscelis tigris ssp., Salvadora hexalepis hexalepis, and Masticophis bilineatus.
CONSERVATION STATUS:
This species is abundant and needs no special protection.
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