Elgaria coerulea (WIEGMANN, 1828)
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Elgaria coerulea
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| Higher Taxa | Anguidae (Gerrhonotinae), Diploglossa, Anguimorpha, Sauria, Squamata (lizards) |
| Subspecies | Elgaria coerulea coerulea (WIEGMANN 1828) Elgaria coerulea palmeri (STEJNEGER 1893) Elgaria coerulea principis BAIRD & GIRARD 1852 Elgaria coerulea shastensis (FITCH 1934) |
| Common Names | Northern Alligator Lizard coerulea: San Francisco Alligator Lizard palmeri: Sierra Alligator Lizard principis: Northern Alligator Lizard shastensis: Shasta Alligator Lizard |
| Synonym | Gerrhonotus coeruleus WIEGMANN 1828: 380 Gerrhonotus burnetti GRAY 1831: 64 (fide SCHMIDT 1953) Gerrhonotus caeruleus [sic] — BOULENGER 1885: 273 Gerrhonotus caeruleus [sic] — BOULENGER 1887: 346 Gerrhonotus burnetti — STEJNEGER 1893 Gerrhonotus coeruleus utahensis WOODBURY 1945 Gerrhonotus coeruleus — WERMUTH 1969: 15 Gerrhonotus coeruleus — STEBBINS 1985: 166 Elgaria coerulea — GOOD 1988: 74 Elgaria coerulea — CROTHER 2000 Elgaria coerulea coerulea — CROTHER et al. 2012 Elgaria coerulea palmeri (STEJNEGER 1893) Gerrhonotus scincicauda palmeri STEJNEGER 1893: 196 Gerrhonotus coeruleus palmeri — FITCH 1938 Gerrhonotus coeruleus palmeri — WERMUTH 1969: 16 Elgaria coerulea palmeri — COLLINS & TAGGART 2009 Elgaria coerulea palmeri — CROTHER et al. 2012 Elgaria coerulea principis BAIRD & GIRARD 1852 Elgaria principis BAIRD & GIRARD 1852: 175 Gerrhonotus coeruleus principis — FITCH 1936 Gerrhonotus coeruleus principis — FITCH 1938 Gerrhonotus coeruleus principis — WERMUTH 1969: 16 Gerrhonotus coeruleus principis — VITT 1973 Gerrhonotus coeruleus principis — VITT 1974 Elgaria coerulea principis — COLLINS & TAGGART 2009 Elgaria coerulea principis — CROTHER et al. 2012 Elgaria coerulea princeps — LANGNER et al. 2019 (in error) Elgaria coerulea shastensis (FITCH 1934) Gerrhonotus coeruleus shastensis FITCH 1934: 6 Gerrhonotus coeruleus shastensis — FITCH 1936 Gerrhonotus coeruleus shastensis — FITCH 1938 Gerrhonotus coeruleus shastensis — WERMUTH 1969: 16 Elgaria coerulea shastensis — COLLINS & TAGGART 2009 Elgaria coerulea shastensis — CROTHER et al. 2012 Elgaria coerulea shastensis — LANGNER et al. 2019 |
| Distribution | Canada (S British Columbia), USA (Washington, Oregon, Utah, Idaho, Montana, California) Type locality: “Brasilia” (in error); modified to “San Francisco, California” by STEJNEGER 1902. |
| Reproduction | ovovivparous. There is evidence for maternal-fetal transfer of nutrients in this species (Blackburn 1994). |
| Types | Holotype: ZMB 1163 Syntypes: USNM 3106 (3), 5134 [principis] Holotype: USNM 18606, male [palmeri] Holotype: MVZ 15047, adult male [shastensis] |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis (coerulea): A small species of Gerrhonotus (maximum snout-vent length about 135 mm., tail length about twice snout-vent length), with dorsal scales in fourteen to sixteen longitudinal· rows and the interoccipital plate often divided (once or twice). Dorsal scales on body and tail and lateral scales of the tail are heavily keeled. The gray, brown, or olive body may be unicolor, but more frequently is marked with dark blotches or irregular dark bands, often with white-tipped scales on the sides. The eyes are yellow, with varying amounts of dark pigment near the pupil. The venter is cream, white, or light gray, and often has longitudinal dark stripes aligned between scale rows. Young have a broad, bronze to gray or tan, longitudinal dorsal stripe (Lais 1976; see also Good 1988: 74). Diagnosis (palmeri): A medium-sized subspecies (maximum snout-vent length about 120 mm.); ground color dull brown or olive; dorsal dark markings indistinct or almost absent; white-tipped scales, if present, scattered; dorsal scales in 16 longitudinal rows; dorsal, lateral, and temporal scales sharply keeled; all upper arm scales strongly keeled; interoccipital single; post-nasals four. Diagnosis (principis): The smallest subspecies (maximum snout-vent length about 100 mm.); ground color brown or tan; body sometimes unmarked but more frequently blotched with black, mainly on the sides; frequently a lighter mid-dorsal longitudinal band; dorsal scales in 14 longitudinal rows, often with an extra half-scale row on each side; dorsal and lateral seales weakly keeled; temporals smooth; scales on upper arm smooth, or two to three rows weakly keeled; interoccipitals three; postnasals eight. Diagnosis (shastensis): Ground color of head and neck distinctly different from and lighter than, that of body; temporal scales all smooth; scales of upp arm and forearm weakly keeled or smooth; ground color often obscured by heavy pigmentation on dorsal surface of head, body, and tail; anterior medial dorsal scales of neck weakly keeled or smooth and wider than scales of rows lateral to them, usually two pairs of postnasals on each side; azygous prefrontal large, in contact with postnasals on each side; limbs well developed; size large (in relation to the other subspecies, Gerrhonot coeruleus coeruleus, G. c. palmeri, and G. c. principis), head and body length from 90 to 128 mm. in adults (from Fitch 1934: 6). |
| Comment | Synonymy: partly after WERMUTH 1969. Distribution: see map in Leavitt et al. 2017: Fig. 1, and Lavin et al. 2018: Fig. 2. |
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