You are here » home › advanced search › Sceloporus scalaris

Sceloporus scalaris WIEGMANN, 1828

IUCN Red List - Sceloporus scalaris - Least Concern, LC
iNaturalist logo

Can you confirm these amateur observations of Sceloporus scalaris?

Add your own observation of
Sceloporus scalaris »

We have no photos, try to find some by Google images search: Google images

Higher TaxaPhrynosomatidae, Sceloporinae, Iguania, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Light-bellied Bunch Grass Lizard
S: Lagartija Escamosa
E: Brown’s Bunchgrass Lizard [brownorum]
S: Escamosa de Brown [brownorum]
E: Southwestern Bunchgrass Lizard [unicanthalis]
S: Escamosa de Pastizal Sureña [unicanthalis] 
SynonymSceloporus scalaris WIEGMANN 1828: 370
Tropidolepis scalaris — DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1837: 310
Tropidolepis Scalaris — DUMÉRIL, BIBRON & DUMÉRIL 1854: 271
Sceloporus scalaris — BOULENGER 1885: 234
Sceloporus scalaris scalaris — SMITH & TAYLOR 1950: 137
Sceloporus scalaris — STEBBINS 1985: 125
Sceloporus scalaris — LINER 1994
Sceloporus scalaris scalaris — BELL et al. 2003
Sceloporus scalaris — HEIMES 2022 
DistributionMexico (C Durango, southward over the central and southern parts of the Mexican Plateau; Distrito Federal, Guanajuato, Hidalgo, Jalisco, México, Michoacán, Puebla, Zacatecas, Nayarit, Aguascalientes, San Luis Potosí, Morelos, Querétaro, Veracruz, Tamaulipas).

Type locality: Mexico. Restricted to México, Distrito Federal, by SMITH & TAYLOR 1950.  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesSyntypes: ZMB 654-656 (fide Taylor, 1969), collected by Ferdinand Deppe 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: Smith 1939: 338. 
CommentTaxonomy: The S. scalaris species group includes five monotypic species, S. slevini, S. samcolemani, S. chaneyi, S. goldmani, and S. bicanthalis, and two polytypic species, S. scalaris (S. s. scalaris, S. s. unicanthalis, S. s. brownorum) and S. aeneus (S. a. aeneus, S. a. subniger).

Subspecies: Sceloporus scalaris brownorum, slevini, samcolemani and unicanthalis have been elevated to species status.

Distribution: reported from the US (Arizona), e.g. by Gloyd 1937. 
EtymologyNamed after the Latin scalaris, "of a ladder," refers to the successive transverse dorsal dark lines resembling a ladder. 
References
  • America, G. & Ortega, A. 1986. Mating behavior of the mountain lizard, Sceloporus scalaris. Bull. Maryland Herp. Soc. 22 (1): 23-25 - get paper here
  • Anderson, J.D. 1962. Egg laying and nesting in Sceloporus scalaris slevini Herpetologica 18 (3): 162-164. - get paper here
  • Anderson, James D. 1972. Pattern Polymorphism in the Bunch-Grass Lizard, Sceloporus scalaris slevini Journal of Herpetology 6 (1): 80 - get paper here
  • Ballinger, R. E.;Congdon, J. D. 1981. Population ecology and life history of a montane lizard (Sceloporus scalaris) in southeastern Arizona. Journal of Natural History 15: 213-222 - get paper here
  • Ballinger, R. E.;Congdon, J. D. 1996. Status of the bunch grass lizard, Sceloporus scalaris, in the Chiricahua Mountains of southeastern Arizona. Bull. Maryland Herp. Soc. 32: 67-69 - get paper here
  • Ballinger, R.E. & J.D. Congdon 1980. Food Resource Limitation of Body Growth Rates in Sceloporus scalaris (Sauria: Iguanidae) Copeia 1980 (4): 921-923. - get paper here
  • Bell, E.L.; Smith, H.M. & Chiszar, D. 2003. AN ANNOTATED LIST OF THE SPECIES-GROUP NAMES APPLIED TO THE LIZARD GENUS SCELOPORUS. Acta Zoologica Mexicana (n.s.) 90: 103-174 - get paper here
  • Benabib, Miriam; Kjer, Karl M.; Sites, Jack W., Jr 1997. Mitochondrial DNA sequence-based phylogeny and the evolution of viviparity in the Sceloporus scalaris group (Reptilia, Squamata). Evolution 51 (4): 1262-1275 - get paper here
  • Blackburn, D.G. 1993. STANDARDIZED CRITERIA FOR THE RECOGNITION OF REPRODUCTIVE MODES IN SQUAMATE REPTILES. Herpetologica 49 (1): 118-132 - get paper here
  • Bock, C.E., H.M. Smith & J.H. Bock 1990. The Effect of Livestock Grazing Upon Abundance of the Lizard, Sceloporus scalaris, in Southeastern Arizona Journal of Herpetology 24 (4): 445-446. - get paper here
  • Boulenger, G.A. 1885. Catalogue of the lizards in the British Museum (Natural History). Vol. 2, Second edition. London, xiii+497 pp. - get paper here
  • Bryson, Robert W.; Uri Omar García-Vázquez, Brett R. Riddle 2011. Relative roles of Neogene vicariance and Quaternary climate change on the historical diversification of bunchgrass lizards (Sceloporus scalaris group) in Mexico. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 62 (1): 447-457 - get paper here
  • Carbajal-Márquez, Rubén A. and Gustavo E. Quintero-Díaz 2016. The Herpetofauna of Aguascalientes, México. Revista Mexicana de Herpetología 2(1):
  • Carbajal-Márquez, Rubén A. and Gustavo E. Quintero-Díaz. 2013. Sceloporus scalaris (light-bellied bunchgrass lizard) clutch size. Herpetological Review 44 (4): 683 - get paper here
  • Carbajal-Márquez, Rubén A., Christian M. García-Balderas, Gustavo E. Quintero-Díaz, Ana G. Pérez-Delgadillo and Raramuri Reyes-Ardit. 2013. Sceloporus scalaris (light-bellied bunchgrass lizard) mating behavior. Herpetological Review 44 (4): 683-684 - get paper here
  • Castro Franco, R. & M. G. Bustos-Zagal 2003. Lagartijas de Morelos, México: distribución, hábitat y conservación. Acta Zoológica Mexicana (n.s.) 88:123-142 - get paper here
  • Castro-Franco, Rubén, María Guasalupe Bustos-Zagal 1994. List of reptiles of Morelos, Mexico, and their distribution in relation to vegetation types. Southwestern Naturalist 39 (2): 171-175 - get paper here
  • Cobarrubias, Edgar Flores; Daniel Cruz-Sáenz, and David Lazcano 2012. Notes on the Herpetofauna of Western Mexico 6: Amphibians and Reptiles of Hostotipaquillo, Jalisco, Mexico. Bull. Chicago Herp. Soc. 47 (2):21-26 - get paper here
  • Creer, Douglas A.; Kjer, Karl M.; Simmons, Daniel L.; Sites, Jack W., Jr 1997. Phylogenetic relationships of Sceloporus scalaris species group (Squamata). Journal of Herpetology 31 (3): 353-364 - get paper here
  • Cruz-Elizalde R, Ramírez-Bautista A, Pineda-López R, Mata-Silva V, DeSantis DL, García-Padilla E, Johnson JD, Rocha A, Fucsko LA, Wilson LD. 2022. The herpetofauna of Querétaro, Mexico: composition, distribution, and conservation status. Amphibian & Reptile Conservation 16(1) [General Section]: 148–192 (e308) - get paper here
  • CRUZ-ELIZALDE, RACIEL; AURELIO RAMÍREZ-BAUTISTA, ABRAHAM LOZANO, JULIÁN A. VELASCO, PABLO OCTAVIO-AGUILAR & CHRISTIAN BERRIOZABAL-ISLAS. 2022. Variation in size and shape sexual dimorphism in the Sceloporus scalaris species group (Squamata: Phrynosomatidae) from the Transvolcanic Belt of Mexico. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 135(3): 499–517. - get paper here
  • Degenhardt, William G.; C. W. Painter, and A. H. Price 1996. Amphibians and reptiles of New Mexico. Univ. New Mexico Press, 431 pp.
  • Dixon, James R. and Julio A. Lemos-Espinal 2010. Amphibians and reptiles of the state of Queretaro, Mexico. Tlalnepantla UNAM, 428 pp.
  • Duméril, A. M. C. and G. Bibron. 1837. Erpétologie Générale ou Histoire Naturelle Complete des Reptiles. Vol. 4. Libr. Encyclopédique Roret, Paris, 570 pp. - get paper here
  • Duméril, A. M.C., G. BIBRON & A. DUMÉRIL 1854. Erpétologie générale ou Histoire Naturelle complète des Reptiles. Vol. 9. Paris, XX + 440 S. - get paper here
  • Fernández-Badillo, Leonardo & Irene Goyenechea-Mayer Goyenechea 2010. Anfibios y reptiles del valle del Mezquital, Hidalgo, México. Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad 81: 705- 712
  • Fitch, H. S. 1978. Sexual size differences in the genus Sceloporus. Univ. Kansas Sci. Bull. 51 (13): 441-461 - get paper here
  • Gloyd, Howard K. 1937. A herpetological consideration of faunal areas in Southern Arizona. Bulletin of the Chicago Academy of Sciences 5 (5): 77-136 - get paper here
  • Gravenhorst, J. L. C. 1838. Beiträge zur genaueren Kenntniss einiger Eidechsengattungen. Nova Acta Acad. Caes. Leop.-Carol. 18: 712-784 [1837]
  • GRUMMER, JARED A. & ROBERT W. BRYSON JR. 2014. A new species of bunchgrass lizard (Squamata: Phrynosomatidae) from the southern sky islands of the Sierra Madre Occidental, Mexico. Zootaxa 3790 (3): 439–450 - get paper here
  • Grummer, Jared A.; Rob W. Bryson, Jr., and Tod W. Reeder 2014. Species Delimitation Using Bayes Factors: Simulations and Application to the Sceloporus scalaris Species Group (Squamata: Phrynosomatidae). Systematic Biology 63 (2): 119-133<br />doi:10.1093/sysbio/syt069 - get paper here
  • Heimes, P. 2022. LIZARDS OF MEXICO - Part 1 Iguanian lizards. Edition Chimaira, Frankfurt Am Main, 448 pp.
  • Howland, Jeffrey M.;Whittinghill-Howland, Jan M. 1995. Sceloporus scalaris. Herpetological Review 26 (3): 155 - get paper here
  • Köhler, G. & Heimes, P. 2002. Stachelleguane. Herpeton-Verlag (Offenbach), 174 pp.
  • Leaché, A.D. 2010. Species trees for spiny lizards (Genus Sceloporus): Identifying points of concordance and conflict between nuclear and mitochondrial data. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 54: 162–171 - get paper here
  • Leaché, A.D. & J.W.Sites, Jr. 2009. Chromosome Evolution and Diversification in North American Spiny Lizards (Genus Sceloporus). Cytogenet Genome Res 127: 166-181 - get paper here
  • Lemos-Espinal JA, Smith GR 2020. A conservation checklist of the herpetofauna of Morelos, with comparisons with adjoining states. ZooKeys 941: 121-144 - get paper here
  • Lemos-Espinal JA, Smith GR 2020. A conservation checklist of the amphibians and reptiles of the State of Mexico, Mexico with comparisons with adjoining states. ZooKeys 953: 137-159 - get paper here
  • Lemos-Espinal JA, Smith GR 2020. A conservation checklist of the amphibians and reptiles of Mexico City, with comparisons with adjoining states. ZooKeys 951: 109-131 - get paper here
  • Lemos-Espinal JA, Smith GR, Gadsden-Esparza H, Valdez-Lares R, Woolrich-Piña GA 2018. Amphibians and reptiles of the state of Durango, Mexico, with comparisons with adjoining states. ZooKeys 748: 65-87 - get paper here
  • Lemos-Espinal JA, Smith GR, Woolrich-Piña GA 2018. Amphibians and reptiles of the state of San Luis Potosí, Mexico, with comparisons with adjoining states. ZooKeys 753: 83-106 - get paper here
  • Lemos-Espinal, Julio A. (ed.) 2015. Amphibians and Reptiles of the US - Mexico Border States / Anfibios y Reptiles de los Estados de la Frontera México - Estados Unidos. Texas A&M University Press, College Station, Texas. x + 614 pp.; ISBN 978-1-62349-306-6. - get paper here
  • Lemos-Espinal, Julio A. and James R. Dixon 2013. Amphibians and Reptiles of San Luis Potosí. Eagle Mountain Publishing, xii + 300 pp.
  • Lemos-Espinal, Julio A., Geoffrey R. Smith 2015. Amphibians and reptiles of the state of Hidalgo, Mexico. Check List 11 (3): 1642 - get paper here
  • Leyte-Manrique A, Mata-Silva V, Báez-Montes O, Fucsko LA, DeSantis DL, García-Padilla E, Rocha A, Johnson JD, Porras LW, Wilson LD. 2022. The herpetofauna of Guanajuato, Mexico: composition, distribution, and conservation status. Amphibian & Reptile Conservation 16(2) [General Section: 133–180 (e321) - get paper here
  • Leyte-Manrique, Adrian; Christian Berriozabal-Islas, Vicente Mata-Silva, and Juan Pablo Morales-Castorena 2018. Herpetofaunal diversity in Área Natural Protegida Las Musas, Guanajuato, Mexico. Mesoamerican Herpetology 5 (1): 122–136 - get paper here
  • Leyte-Manrique, Adrian; Efrén M. Hernández Navarro y Luis A. Escobedo-Morales 2015. Herpetofauna de Guanajuato: Un análisis histórico y contemporáneo de su conocimiento. Revista Mexicana de Herpetología 1(1): 1–14
  • Loc-Barragán JA, Smith GR, Woolrich-Piña GA, Lemos-Espinal JA 2024. An updated checklist of the amphibians and reptiles of Nayarit, Mexico with conservation status and comparison with adjoining States. Herpetozoa 37: 25-42 - get paper here
  • Martin, Plul S. 1958. A biogeography of reptiles and amphibians in the Gomez Farias Region, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Miscellaneous publications, Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan (101): 1-102 + 7 plates - get paper here
  • Mink, Daniel G.; Sites, Jack W., Jr 1996. Species limits, phylogenetic relationships, and origins of viviparity in the scalaris complex of the lizard genus Sceloporus (Phrynosomatidae; Sauria). Herpetologica 52 (4): 551-571 - get paper here
  • Muñoz-Nolasco, Francisco Javier; Daniel Cruz-Sáenz, Oscar Jair Rodríguez-Ruvalcaba and Isaac Enrique Terrones-Ferreiro 2015. Notes on the Herpetofauna of Western Mexico 12: Herpetofauna of a Temperate Forest in Mazamitla, Southeastern Jalisco, Mexico. Bull. Chicago Herp. Soc. 50 (4):45-50 - get paper here
  • Newlin, M.E. 1976. Reproduction in the Bunch Grass Lizard, Sceloporus scalaris Herpetologica 32 (2): 171-184. - get paper here
  • Ortega, A. & R. Barbault 1986. Reproduction in the High Elevation Mexican Lizard Sceloporus scalaris Journal of Herpetology 20 (1): 111-114. - get paper here
  • Ortega, A., R. Rodriguez, P. Galina & A. Gutiérrez 1987. Seasonal Variation in Fat Bodies of the Montane Lizard, Sceloporus scalaris Bull. Maryland Herpetol. Soc., 23(2): 39-46. - get paper here
  • Ortega, Alfredo; Ricardo Rodriguez, Lucina Hernandez and Robert Barbault. 1984. Cycles Journaliers d’Activité chez deux Espèces Sympatriques de Sceloporus (Iguanidae), S. grammicus et S. scalaris. Amphibia-Reptilia 5 (3-4): 347 - 354 - get paper here
  • Ramírez-Bautista, Aurelio; Raciel Cruz-Elizalde; Uriel Hernández-Salinas; Abraham Lozano; Jared A Grummer 2017. Reproductive trait variation in the Sceloporus scalaris species group (Squamata: Phrynosomatidae) from the Transvolcanic Belt, Mexico. Biol J Linn Soc 122 (4): 838–849 - get paper here
  • Roth-Monzón AJ, Mendoza-Hernández AA, Flores-Villela O. 2018. Amphibian and reptile biodiversity in the semi-arid region of the municipality of Nopala de Villagrán, Hidalgo, Mexico. PeerJ 6: e4202 - get paper here
  • Salcido-Rodríguez, Israel; Francisco Isaac Hernández-Valadez , Adriana Elizabeth Castillo-Franco , Daniel Cruz-Sáenz , Edgar Emmanuel Hernández-Juárez , David Lazcano , Lydia Allison Fucsko and Larry David Wilson 2023. Notes on the Herpetofauna of Western Mexico 31: Herpetofauna from Sierra de Tesistán, Zapopan,. Bulletin of the Chicago Herpetological Society 58(10):165-171 - get paper here
  • Smith H M.; Watkins-Colwell G J.; Lemos-Espinal J A.; Chiszar D. 1997. A new subspecies of the lizard (Sceloporus scalaris (Reptilia: Sauria: Phrynosomatidae) from the Sierra Madre Occidental of Mexico. Southwestern Naturalist 42 (3): 290-301. - get paper here
  • Smith H.M.; Bock C.E.; Bock J.H., 1990. Notes on reproduction and coloration in the bunchgrass lizard Sceloporus scalaris in southeastern Arizona USA. Bull. Maryland Herp. Soc. 26: 64-67 - get paper here
  • Smith, H. M. 1939. The Mexican and Central American lizards of the genus Sceloporus. Field Mus. Nat. Hist., Zool. Ser. 26: 1-397. - get paper here
  • Smith, H. M.;Hall, W. P. 1974. Contributions to the concepts of reproductive cycles and the systematics of the scalaris group of the lizard genus Sceloporus. Great Basin Naturalist 34 (2): 97-104 - get paper here
  • Smith, H.M. 1937. A synopsis of the Scalaris group of the lizard genus Sceloporus. Occ. Pap. Mus. Zool. Univ. Mich 361: 1-8
  • Stebbins,R.C. 1985. A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians, 2nd ed. Houghton Mifflin, Boston
  • Tepos-Ramírez M, Garduño-Fonseca FS, Peralta-Robles CA, García-Rubio OR, Cervantes Jiménez R 2023. Annotated checklist of amphibians and reptiles from Querétaro, Mexico, including new records, and comments on controversial species. Check List 19(2): 269-292 - get paper here
  • Terán-Juárez, Sergio A., Elí García Padilla, Vicente Mata-Silva, Jerry D. Johnson and Larry David Wilson. 2016. The herpetofauna of Tamaulipas, Mexico: composition, distribution, and conservation status. Mesoamerican Herpetology 3 (1): 43–113 - get paper here
  • Thomas, Robert A. & Dixon,J.R. 1976. A re-evaluation of the Sceloporus scalaris group (Sauria: Iguanidae). Southwestern Naturalist 20 (4): 523-536 - get paper here
  • Torres-Hernández, LA, Ramírez-Bautista A, Cruz-Elizalde R, Hernández-Salinas U, Berriozabal-Islas C, DeSantis DL, Johnson JD, Rocha A, García-Padilla E, Mata-Silva V, Fucsko LA, and Wilson LD. 2021. The herpetofauna of Veracruz, Mexico: composition, distribution, and conservation status. Amphibian & Reptile Conservation 15(2) [General Section]: 72–155 - get paper here
  • Valdez-Lares, R.; R. Muñiz-Martínez; E.Gadsden; G. Aguirre-León; G. Castañeda-Gaytán; R. Gonzalez-Trápaga 2013. Checklist of amphibians and reptiles of the state of Durango, México. Check List 9 (4):714-724 - get paper here
  • Van Denburgh, John and Joseph R. Slevin 1913. A list of the amphibians and reptiles of Arizona, with notes on the species in the collection of the Academy. Proc. Cal. Acad. Sci. 3 (13): 391-454 - get paper here
  • Vázquez Díaz, Joel;Quintero Díaz, Gustavo E. 2005. Anfibios y Reptiles de Aguascalientes [2nd ed.]. CONABIO, CIEMA, 318 pp.
  • Velázquez-Rodríguez, Alma Socorro; Aleida García-Cruz, Warren Burggren & Felipe De Jesús Rodríguez-Romero 2019. Physical and Chemical Variables Promote Successful Nesting in High Mountain Sceloporus Lizards in Central México. Herpetologica 75 (2): 134-142 - get paper here
  • Webb, R.G. 1984. Herpetogeography in the Mazatlán-Durango Region of the Sierra Madre Occidental, Mexico. Vetrebrate Ecology and Systematics - A ribute to Henry S. Fitch; Museum of Natural History, University of Kansas, Lawrence, pp. 217-241
  • Webb, Robert G.; Smith, Hobart M.; Chiszar, David; Watkins-Colwell, Gregory J. 1996. Geographic Distribution. Sceloporus scalaris unicanthalis. Herpetological Review 27 (3): 153 - get paper here
  • Wiegmann,A.F.A. 1828. Beyträge zur Amphibienkunde. Isis von Oken 21 (4): 364-383 - get paper here
  • Wilson, Larry David;McCranie, James R. 1979. Notes on the herpetofauna of two mountain ranges in Mexico (Sierra Fria, Aguascalientes, and Sierra Morones, Zacatecas. Journal of Herpetology 13 (3): 271-278 - get paper here
  • Woolrich-Piña, G. A., E. García-Padilla, D. L. DeSantis, J. D. Johnson, V. Mata-Silva, and L. D. Wilson 2017. The herpetofauna of Puebla, Mexico: composition, distribution, and conservation status. Mesoamerican Herpetology 4(4): 791–884 - get paper here
  • Woolrich-Piña, Guillermo A, Paulino Ponce-Campos, Jesús Loc-Barragán, Juan Pablo Ramírez-Silva, Vicente Mata-Silva, Jerry D. Johnson, Elí García-Padilla and Larry David Wilson. 2016. The herpetofauna of Nayarit, Mexico: composition, distribution, and conservation status. Mesoamerican Herpetology 3 (2): 376-448 - get paper here
 
External links  
Is it interesting? Share with others:


Please submit feedback about this entry to the curator