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Elgaria multicarinata (BLAINVILLE, 1835)

IUCN Red List - Elgaria multicarinata - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaAnguidae (Gerrhonotinae), Diploglossa, Anguimorpha, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
SubspeciesElgaria multicarinata multicarinata (BLAINVILLE,1835)
Elgaria multicarinata ignava (VAN DENBURGH 1905)
Elgaria multicarinata nana (FITCH 1934)
Elgaria multicarinata scincicauda (SKILTON 1849)
Elgaria multicarinata webbii (BAIRD 1859) 
Common NamesE: Southern Alligator Lizard
G: südliche Alligatorschleiche
multicarinata: California Alligator Lizard
scincicauda: Oregon Alligator Lizard
webbii : San Diego Alligator Lizard
ignava: San Martin Alligator Lizard
nana: Los Coronados Alligator Lizard
S: Lagarto Meridional 
SynonymCordylus (Gerhonotus) multi-carinatus BLAINVILLE 1835: 289
Gerrhonotus multicarinatus — DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1839: 404
Gerrhonotus multicarinatus — VAN DENBURGH 1898: 64
Gerrhonotus multicarinatus multicarinatus — SMITH 1946
Gerrhonotus multicarinatus — BRADLEY & DEACON 1966
Gerrhonotus multicarinatus — WERMUTH 1969: 24
Gerrhonotus multicarinatus — KAHL et al. 1980: 189
Gerrhonotus multicarinatus — STEBBINS 1985: 164
Elgaria multicarinata — GOOD 1988: 75
Elgaria multicarinata — LINER 1994
Elgaria multicarinata — PIANKA & VITT 2003: 227
Elgaria multicarinata multicarinata — COLLINS & TAGGART 2009

Elgaria multicarinata ignava (VAN DENBURGH 1905)
Gerrhonotus scincicauda ignava VAN DENBURGH 1905
Gerrhonotus scincicauda ignavus — VAN DENBURGH 1912
Gerrhonotus multicarinatus ignavus — ZWEIFEL 1958

Elgaria multicarinata nana (FITCH 1934)
Gerrhonotus scincicauda nanus FITCH 1934: 7
Gerrhonotus multi-carinatus nanus FITCH 1934
Gerrhonotus multi-carinatus nanus — FITCH 1938
Elgaria multicarinata nana — TIHEN 1949: 596
Elgaria multicarinata nana — SMITH & TAYLOR 1950: 207
Gerrhonotus multicarinatus nanus — WERMUTH 1969: 24
Elgaria multicarinata nana — CROTHER 2000
Elgaria nana — GRISMER 2001
Elgaria nana — LEMOS-ESPINAL 2015
Elgaria nana — JOHNSON et al. 2017
Elgaria multicarinata — LEAVITT et al. 2017
Elgaria nana — PERALTA-GARCÍA et al. 2023

Elgaria multicarinata scincicauda (SKILTON 1849)
Tropidolepis scincicauda SKILTON 1849: 202
Tropidolepis sincicauda [sic] — SKILTON 1849: plate
Elgaria grandis BAIRD & GIRARD 1852: 176
Gerrhonotus (Elgaria) scincicauda — O’SHAUGHNESSY 1873: 47
Gerrhonotus scincicauda — STEJNEGER 1893: 195
Gerrhonotus scincicauda — VAN DENBURGH 1895: 120
Gerrhonotus scincicauda — VAN DENBURGH 1912: 157
Gerrhonotus multicarinatus scincicauda — FITCH 1936
Gerrhonotus multicarinatus scincicauda — SMITH 1946
Gerrhonotus multicarinatus scincicauda — WERMUTH 1969: 24
Gerrhonotus multicarinatus scincicauda — STEBBINS 1985: 165
Gerrhonotus multicarinatus scincicauda — CROTHER 2000
Gerrhonotus multicarinatus scincicauda — COLLINS & TAGGART 2009

Elgaria multicarinata webbii (BAIRD 1859)
Gerrhonotus webbii BAIRD 1859: 255
Gerrhonotus Webbii — O’SHAUGHNESSY 1873: 46
Gerrhonotus webbii — GÜNTHER 1885: 35
Gerrhonotus scincicauda ignavus VAN DENBURGH 1905: 19
Gerrhonotus scincicauda webbii — GRINNELL & CAMP 1917: 168
Gerrhonotus scincicauda webbii — KLAUBER 1928
Gerrhonotus scincicauda webbii — GANDER 1931
Gerrhonotus scincicauda webbii — BURT 1933
Gerrhonotus multi-carinatus webbii — FITCH 1938: 395
Gerrhonotus multicarinatus webbi — SMITH 1946
Elgaria multicarinata webbii — TIHEN 1949: 596
Elgaria multicarinata webbii — CUNNINGHAM 1956
Gerrhonotus multicarinatus webbi — CUNNINGHAM 1966
Gerrhonotus multicarinatus webbii — WERMUTH 1969: 25
Gerrhonotus multicarinatus webbii — STEBBINS 1985: 165
Gerrhonotus multicarinatus webbii — CROTHER 2000
Elgaria multicarinata webbii — COLLINS & TAGGART 2009
Elgaria multicarinata webbii — WERNING 2013
Elgaria multicarinata webbii — BARTS 2018 
DistributionUSA (Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada),
Mexico (Baja California)

ignava: San Martin Island, Baja California

nana: Los Coronados Island, Baja California; Type locality: South island, Los Coronados Island, Baja California.

scincicauda: USA (Oregon); Type locality: “country about the Dalles of the Columbia”

webbii: S California, N Baja California. Type locality: “San Diego to El Paso”. Restrcited to San Diego, California, by SMITH & TAYLOR 1950.  
Reproductionoviparous; genetic sex determination (GSD) although some sources also reported Temperature‐dependent sex determination (TSD), e.g. Cornejo-Páramo et al. 2020, citing Goldberg 1972. 
TypesHolotype: MNHN-RA 2002, 228 (130) mm
Holotype: USNM 9057 [Elgaria grandis]
Holotype: CAS 4699 [ignava]
Holotype: MVZ (Mus. Vert. Zool.) UC 5402 [nana]
Holotype: USNM 3078 (collected by T.H. Webb) [webbii] 
DiagnosisDiagnosis (genus): Good 1988: 71, but note that the concept (and content) of Elgaria in Good 1988 was different than today. Ledesma et al. 2021 found that no skull characters are reliably diagnostic for Elgaria (or Gerrhonotus). 
CommentType Species: Cordylus (Gerhonotus) multi-carinatus BLAINVILLE 1835 is the type species of the genus Elgaria GRAY 1838.

Distribution: see map in Leavitt et al. 2017: Fig. 1.

Predation: this species seems to have developed some resistance to black widow spider venom (Thill et al. 2022).

Synonymy: Leavitt et al. 2017 consider nana as conspecific with multicarinatus; one DNA sample nested within multicarinatus.

Reference images: see Uetz et al. 2024 for high-resolution reference images for this species. 
EtymologyNamed after Latin multi, many things (pl.); much; many + Latin carinata, keeled, ridged. [“...Écailles dorsales sur le corps et sur la queue, toutes carénées, et disposées de manière à former quatre paires de lignes carénées dans toute l'étendue du corps...”]. 
References
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