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Sceloporus magister HALLOWELL, 1854

IUCN Red List - Sceloporus magister - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaPhrynosomatidae, Sceloporinae, Iguania, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Desert Spiny Lizard
E: Orange-headed Spiny Lizard [cephaloflavus]
E: Twin-spotted Spiny Lizard [bimaculosus]
S: Cachora [bimaculosus]
E: Purple-backed Spiny Lizard [magister]
E: Barred Spiny Lizard [transversus]
G: Wüsten-Stachelleguan
S: Lagartija del Desierto
E: Yellow-Backed Spiny Lizard [uniformis]
G: Gelber Wüsten-Stachelleguan, Gelbrücken-Wüstenstachelleguan [uniformis]
S: Roño de Suelo [uniformis] 
SynonymSceloporus magister HALLOWELL 1854: 93
Sceloporus spinosus magister — BOULENGER 1897: 492
Sceloporus magister montserratensis VAN DENBURGH & SLEVIN 1921: 396
Sceloporus montserratensis VAN DENBURGH & SLEVIN 1921: 396
Sceloporus magister magister — SMITH & TAYLOR 1950: 114
Sceloporus magister cephaloflavus TANNER 1955
Sceloporus magister transversus PHELAN & BRATTSTROM 1955
Sceloporus magister uniformis PHELAN & BRATTSTROM 1955
Sceloporus magister montserratensis — ZWEIFEL 1958
Sceloporus magister — PARKER 1982
Sceloporus magister cephaloflavus — STEBBINS 1985: 128
Sceloporus magister — STEBBINS 1985: 127
Sceloporus magister — LINER 1994
Sceloporus magister cephaloflavus — CROTHER 2000
Sceloporus magister transversus — CROTHER 2000
Sceloporus magister cephaloflavus — BELL et al. 2003
Sceloporus magister uniformis — BELL et al. 2003
Sceloporus uniformis — SCHULTE et al. 2006
Sceloporus magister — SCHULTE et al. 2006
Sceloporus magister — WERNING 2012
Sceloporus uniformis — WERNING 2012
Sceloporus uniformis — CROTHER et al. 2012
Sceloporus uniformis — HEIMES 2022
Sceloporus magister — HEIMES 2022
Sceloporus magister — HANSEN & SHEDD 2025 
DistributionUSA (SE California, Nevada, S Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico),
Mexico (Baja California, Sonora, NW Chihuahua, Coahuila, Sinaloa)

cephaloflavus: USA (Utah). Type Locality: Bentley's Cabin, approximately 15 mi NW Hole-in-the-Rock, Kaiparowits Plateau, Kane County, Utah.

magister: USA (Arizona); Type locality: Fort Yuma, Arizona, restricted to Yuma, Yuma, Arizona, by Smith and Taylor (1950)].

montserratensis: Mexico (Baja California: Monserrate Island); Type locality: Monserrate Island, Gulf of California

transversus: USA (California); Type Locality: Keough's Hot Springs, 7 mi. S Bishop, Inyo County, California.

uniformis: USA (California, Nevada, W Arizona, SW Utah). Type locality "Valyermo, Los Angeles, California"  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: USNM 2967
Holotype: CAS 91199 [bimaculosus]
Holotype: CAS 91200 [transversus]
Holotype: BYU 11270, collected 16 July 1953 by D. E. Beck [cephaloflavus]
Holotype: CAS 50509 [montserratensis]
Holotype: CAS 91201 [uniformis] 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: Smith 1939: 145


Additional details (2068 characters) are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentSynonymy: after Leaché and Mulcahy 2007, Pavón-Vázquez et al. 2024.

Similar species: Historically, this species has been confused with S. clarkii (STEJNEGER 1893).

Subspecies: Traditionally, taxa in the complex were classified as a single species (S. magister) with 9 subspecies (Phelan and Brattstrom 1955; Parker 1982): S. m. magister from the Sonoran Desert; S. m. bimaculosus from the Chihuahuan Desert; S. m. cephaloflavus from the Colorado Plateau; S. m. lineatulus from Isla Catalina (= Isla Santa Catalina), a deep-water island in the Gulf of California; S. m. monserratensis from the Baja California Peninsula between the Vizcaíno Desert and the Isthmus of La Paz (including Isla Monserrate); S. m. rufidorsum from the Baja California Peninsula north of the Vizcaíno Desert and south of the mesic forests of the Sierra San Pedro Mártir; S. m. transversus from the Owens Valley in eastern California and adjacent Nevada; S. m. uniformis from the northwestern edge of the Sonoran Desert, the Mojave Desert, and the Great Basin Desert, with a disjunct population in the San Joaquin Valley of California; and S. m. zosteromus from Baja California Sur south of the Isthmus of La Paz (Fig. 1b).
Sceloporus magister bimaculosus PHELAN & BRATTSTROM 1955 and S. m. uniformis have been elevated to full species. S. m. transversus is neither listed nor discussed by BOUNDY et al. 2012. Leaché and Mulcahy (2007) found that specimens from closer to the type locality of S. m. cephaloflavus were part of S. uniformis rather than S. magister; consequently, Crother et al. 2012 have not recognized subspecies within S. magister. Crother et al. 2017 and Pavón-Vázquez et al. 2024 do not recognize any subspecies and thus consider magister as monotypic.

Distribution: Not in Durango fide Lemos-Espinal (2018); not in Coahuila where it is represented by S. m. bimaculosus, now a valid species according to some authors; see maps in Jones & Lovich 2009: 226, Parker 1982, Pavón-Vázquez et al. 2024 (Fig.1). The map in Pavón-Vázquez et al. 2024 also shows the formerly recognized subspecies bimaculosus, cephaloflavus, magister, transversus, and uniformis (even though they do not recognize them any more). For an older map showing al subspecies see Parker 1982.

Diet: a large percentage of the diet of this species (10-30%) consists of ants (Lucas et al. 2023).

NCBI TaxonID: 1835718 [uniformis]

Etymology (uniformis): The Latin unus, "one, whole," and forma, "feature", refer to the uniform light yellow of the middorsum, lacking dark markings. 
EtymologyNamed after the Latin magister, "master," or "chief," refers to the large size of this species.

cephaloflavus: The Greek noun kephale, "head," and the Latin noun flavus, "yellow," together refer to the yellow or orange dorsal head scales.

transversus: The Latin noun transversus, "crosswise," refers to the 6 or 7 conspicuous dark crossbars on the dorsum. 
References
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