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Petrosaurus mearnsi (STEJNEGER, 1894)

IUCN Red List - Petrosaurus mearnsi - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaPhrynosomatidae, Sceloporinae, Iguania, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Banded Rock Lizard
G: Mearns‘ Felsenleguan
S: Lagarto de Roca Rayada 
SynonymUta mearnsi STEJNEGER 1894
Uta mearnsi — MOCQUARD 1899: 308
Uta mearnsi — KLAUBER 1939
Streptosaurus mearnsi — MITTLEMAN 1942: 111
Streptosaurus mearnsi — SMITH 1946
Streptosaurus mearnsi — SMITH & TAYLOR 1950: 91
Streptosaurus mearnsi — CASE 1975
Streptosaurus mearnsi — LANDWEHR 1979
Petrosaurus mearnsi — STEBBINS 1985: 137
Petrosaurus mearnsi — LINER 1994
Petrosaurus mearnsi — LINER 2007
Petrosaurus mearnsi — SCHULZE-NIEHOFF 2018
Petrosaurus mearnsi — HEIMES 2022
Petrosaurus mearnsi — HEIMES 2022
Petrosaurus mearnsi — HANSEN & SHEDD 2025 
DistributionUSA (S California), Mexico (Baja California Norte)

Type locality: Summit of the Coast Range, United States and Mexico boundary line, California.  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: USNM 21882, female 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: Dorsal scales uniform, small, smooth; edge of gular fold without enlarged scales; four or five very long and pointed scales on anterior border of ear-opening; tail with large, strongly keeled, spinose scales; scales on arms and legs strongly keeled. One well-marked black line from shoulder to shoulder across the back; tail above, regularly cross-barred with black (Stejneger 1894: 589).


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CommentIllustration in Reptilia 9 (3): 19. Landwehr 1979 made the cover of Lacerta 1979 (index issue).

Type species: Uta mearnsi STEJNEGER 1894 is the type species of the genus Streptosaurus MITTLEMAN 1942. Streptosaurus was considered a synonym of Petrosaurus by Etheridge 1964. 
EtymologyNamed after Lt. Col. Edgar Alexander Mearns, Physician and Naturalist of the International Boundary Commission, who collected the holotype. 
References
  • Aguilars S., M. A.; Sites, J. W., Jr.;Murphy, R. W. 1988. Genetic variability and population structure in the lizard genus Petrosaurus (Iguanidae). Journal of Herpetology 22 (2): 135-145 - get paper here
  • Beolens, Bo; Michael Watkins, and Michael Grayson 2011. The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, USA - get paper here
  • Bezy, Robert L. 2025. Biogeography of the Peninsular Reptiles in California. SONORAN HERPETOLOGIST 38 (2): 71-80 - get paper here
  • Burré, G. 2002. Begegnungen mit Iguaniden im Südwesten der USA. Iguana Rundschreiben 15 (2): 13-21
  • Case, T.J. 1975. Species Numbers, Density Compensation, and Colonizing Ability of Lizards on Islands in the Gulf of California. Ecology, 56: 3-18 - get paper here
  • Cooper, W.E. & J.A. McGuire 1993. Progesterone induces bright orange throat coloration in female Petrosaurus mearnsi Amphibia-Reptilia, 14(3): 213-221. - get paper here
  • Crother, B. I. (ed.) 2012. Standard Common and Current Scientific Names for North American Amphibians, Turtles, Reptiles, and Crocodilians, Seventh Edition. Herpetological Circular 39: 1-92
  • Grismer, L. Lee. 1999. An evolutionary classification of reptiles on islands in the Gulf of California, México. Herpetologica 55 (4): 446-469 - get paper here
  • Hansen, Robert and Jackson D. Shedd 2025. California Amphibians and Reptiles. Princeton University Press, 528 pp., ISBN<br />9780691249087 (ebook) - get paper here
  • Heimes, P. 2022. LIZARDS OF MEXICO - Part 1 Iguanian lizards. Edition Chimaira, Frankfurt Am Main, 448 pp. - get paper here
  • Jennings M R 1990. Petrosaurus mearnsi (Stejneger). Banded rock lizard. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles 495: 1-3 - get paper here
  • Jennings M R 1990. Petrosaurus Boulenger. Rock lizards. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles 494: 1-2 - get paper here
  • Jones, L.L. & Lovich, R.E. 2009. Lizards of the American Southwest. A photographic field guide. Rio Nuevo Publishers, Tucson, AZ, 568 pp. [review in Reptilia 86: 84] - get paper here
  • Klauber, L. M. 1939. Index to the scientific names in studies of reptile life in the arid southwest. Bulletins of the Zoological Society of San Diego 14: 1-2 - get paper here
  • Liner, Ernest A. 2007. A CHECKLIST OF THE AMPHIBIANS AND REPTILES OF MEXICO. Louisiana State University Occasional Papers of the Museum of Natural Science 80: 1-60 - get paper here
  • Mittleman,M.B. 1942. A summary of the iguanid genus Urosaurus. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. Harvard 91: 105-181 - get paper here
  • Mocquard, F. 1899. Contribution a la faune herpétologique de la Basse-Californie. Nouv. Arch. Mus. Hist. Natur.Paris, 4th Series, Vol. 1: 297-343 + plates XI-XIII - get paper here
  • Peralta-García A, Valdez-Villavicencio JH, Fucsko LA, Hollingsworth BD, Johnson JD, Mata-Silva V, Rocha A, DeSantis DL, Porras LW, and Wilson LD. 2023. The herpetofauna of the Baja California Peninsula and its adjacent islands, Mexico: composition, distribution, and conservation status. Amphibian & Reptile Conservation 17(1&2): 57–142
  • Pilliod, D., Jeffries, M., Arkle, R. and Olson, D. 2024. Climate Futures for Lizards and Snakes in Western North America May Result in New Species Management Issues. Ecol Evol, 14: e70379 - get paper here
  • Presch,W. 1969. Evolutionary osteology and relationships of the horned lizard genus Phrynosoma (family Iguanidae). Copeia 1969 (2): 250-275 - get paper here
  • SCHULZE NIEHOFF, P. 2018. Mearns‘ Felsenleguan Petrosaurus mearnsi (Stejneger, 1894) – Lebensweise, Haltung und Erstnachzucht im Terrarium. Sauria 40 (1): 58-74 - get paper here
  • Schulze Niehoff, Peter 2014. Immer an der Wand lang: Der Baja-California-Felsenleguan, Petrosaurus repens, im Terrarium. Terraria-Elaphe 2014 (2): 38-45 - get paper here
  • Smith, Hobart M. 1946. Handbook of Lizards: Lizards of the United States and of Canada. Comstock, Ithaca, NY, xxii + 557 pp.
  • Stebbins,R.C. 1985. A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians, 2nd ed. Houghton Mifflin, Boston
  • Stejneger, L. 1894. Description of Uta mearnsi. A new lizard from California. Proc. US Natl. Mus. 17: 589-591 - get paper here
  • Tevis, lloyd, Jr. 1944. Herpetological notes from lower California. Copeia 1944 (1): 6-18 - get paper here
  • Van Denburgh, John 1922. The Reptiles of Western North America. Volume I. Lizards. Occ. Pap. Cal. Acad. Sci. (10): 1–612 - get paper here
  • Werning, H. 2018. Nordamerikanische Kleinleguane – Die Familie Phrynosomatidae. Reptilia 23 (131): 14-19
  • Werning, Heiko 2012. Die Reptilien und Amphibien des Südwestens. Draco 13 (50): 18-60 - get paper here
  • Wright, A.A. & A.H. Wright 1931. Some Stejneger Species. Photographs from Life Copeia 1931 (3): 84-85. - get paper here
 
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