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Xantusia riversiana COPE, 1883

IUCN Red List - Xantusia riversiana - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaXantusiidae (Xantusiinae), Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
SubspeciesXantusia riversiana reticulata SMITH 1946
Xantusia riversiana riversiana COPE 1883 
Common NamesE: Island Night Lizard
riversiana: San Nicolas Night Lizard
reticulata: San Clemente Night Lizard 
SynonymXantusia riversiana COPE 1879: 801 (nom. nud.)
Xantusia riversiana COPE 1883: 29
Xantusia riversiana — BOULENGER 1885: 328
Xantusia riversiana — SMITH 1946: 327
Klauberina riversiana riversiana — SAVAGE 1963
Xantusia riversiana — STEBBINS 1985: 145
Klauberina riversiana — SAVAGE 1957
Xantusia riversiana — CROTHER 2000: 55
Xantusia riversiana — SINCLAIR et al. 2004
Xantusia riversiana — HANSEN & SHEDD 2025

Xantusia riversiana reticulata SMITH 1946
Klauberina riversiana reticulata — SAVAGE 1963
Xantusia riversiana reticulata — CROTHER 2000: 55
Xantusia riversiana reticulata — COLLINS & TAGGART 2009 
DistributionUSA (San Clemente, Santa Barbara, San Nicolas Islands off S California)

Type locality: California (fide COPE 1883), but San Nicolas Island, off the California coast (fide Rivers, cited in Stejneger & Barbour 1933).  
Reproductionovoviviparous 
TypesHolotype: MVZ 8278, adult (sex unknown), Museum of Vertebrate Zoology
Holotype: USNM 124381, adult (sex unknown) [reticulata] 
DiagnosisUnfortunately we had to temporarily remove additional information as this was scraped by multiple AI companies who sell that data to their customers. These details, e.g. detailed descriptions or comparisons (about 1945 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentX. riversiana (10 –25 g; to 109 mm SVL) is the largest xantusiid species, comparable to many Lepidophyma in that regard,while the remaining species of Xantusia are much smaller (1–4 g; to 70 mm svl).

Habitat: rocks and decomposing plants. 
EtymologyNamed after Mr. J. J. Rivers of the University of California. 
References
  • Adams, Nicole E.; Matthew D. Dean, and Gregory B. Pauly 2018. Morphological Divergence among Populations of Xantusia riversiana, a Night Lizard Endemic to the Channel Islands of California. Copeia 106 (3): 550-562. - 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, R. L.; G. C. Gorman, G. A. Adest, and Y. J. Kim 1980. Divergence in the Island Night Lizard Xantusia riversiana (Sauria: Xantusiidae). In: Power, D. M. (cd.)" 1980. The California Islands. Proccedings of a multidisciplinary Symposium. Santa Barbara Nat. Hist. Mus., Santa Barbara
  • 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
  • Brattstrom, B.H. 1952. The Food of the Nightlizards, Genus Xantusia. Copeia 1952 (3). 168-172. - get paper here
  • Collins, J.T. and T. W. Taggart 2009. Standard Common and Current Scientific Names for North American Amphibians, Turtles, Reptiles, and Crocodilians, Sixth Edition. Center for North American Herpetology, 48 pp.
  • Cope, E.D. 1879. [Prof. Cope spoke at the California Academy of Sciences, Nov. 3] American Naturalist 1879: 801 - get paper here
  • Cope, E.D. 1883. Notes on the geographical distribution of batrachia and reptilia in western North America. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 35: 10-35 - 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
  • Fellers G M; Drost C A 1991. Xantusia riversiana Cope. Island night lizard. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles ( 518: 1-4 - get paper here
  • Fontaine, J., K. Lovich and B. Baldwin 2016. Xantusia riversiana (Island Night Lizard) captive diet. Herpetological Review 47(3): 410-411. - get paper here
  • Goldberg, S.R. & C.R. Bursey 1990. Prevalence of Eimeria noctisauris (Apicomplexa: Eimeriidae) in the Island Night Lizard, Xantusia riversiana (Xantusiidae) Journal of Herpetology 24 (2): 204-207. - get paper here
  • Goldberg, S.R. & R.L. Bezy 1974. Reproduction in the Island Night Lizard, Xantusia riversiana Herpetologica 30 (4): 350-360. - get paper here
  • GRISMER, L. LEE; KIN ONN CHAN, ROBERT E. LOVICH & JESSE L. GRISMER. 2022. A statistical reanalysis of morphological differentiation among island night lizards (Xantusia riversiana) from the California Channel Islands. Vertebrate Zoology 72: 1–27. - 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
  • 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
  • Peterson, J. A. & Bezy, Robert L. 1985. The microstructure and evolution of scale surfaces in xantusiid lizards. Herpetologica 41 (3): 298-324. - get paper here
  • 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
  • Rice, Stephen and Clark, Rulon 2016. Xantusia riversiana (Island Night Lizard) Amelanism. Herpetological Review 47 (4): 675 - get paper here
  • Savage, J. M. 1963. 'Studies on the Lizard Family Xantusiidae IV. The Genera. Contributions in Science, Los Angeles County Museum (71): 1 - 38 - get paper here
  • Savage, Jay M. 1951. Studies on the lizard family Xantusidae, II: Geographical variation in Xantusia riversiana from the Channel Islands of California. J. Washington Acad. Sci. 41 (11): 357-360 - get paper here
  • Savage, Jay M. 1957. Studies on the lizard family Xantusiidae. III. A new genus of Xantusia riversiana Cope, 1883. Zoologica 42 (3): 83-86 - get paper here
  • Sinclair, Elizabeth A.; Robert L. Bezy; Kathryn Bolles; Jose L. Camarillo R.; Keith A. Crandall and Jack W. Sites, Jr. 2004. Testing Species Boundaries in an Ancient Species Complex with Deep Phylogeographic History: Genus Xantusia (Squamata: Xantusiidae). American Naturalist 164 (3): 396-414 - get paper here
  • Smith, Hobart M. 1946. Handbook of Lizards: Lizards of the United States and of Canada. Comstock, Ithaca, NY, xxii + 557 pp.
  • Smith, Hobart M. 1946. A subspecies of the lizard Xantusia riversiana. J. Washington Acad. Sci. 36 (11): 392-393 - get paper here
  • Stebbins,R.C. 1985. A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians, 2nd ed. Houghton Mifflin, Boston
  • Stejneger, L.H., and T. Barbour. 1933. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles, third edition. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 185 pp. - get paper here
  • Van Denburgh, J. 1919. A Note on Xantusia riversiana Copeia 75: 91-92. - get paper here
 
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