Leopard Lizards (Family Crotaphytidae, Genus Gambelia)

Main sources: Stebbins, Robert, 1985, A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians, Houghton Mifflin; Behler, John & Wayne King, 1979, The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Reptiles and Amphibians, NY: Alfred Knopf.

These images were obtained in and near Hot Springs Canyon. Widespread in Arizona (the entire south and west portions of the state below 6,000 feet), the long-nosed leopard lizard (Gambelia wislizenii), is a diurnal, very fast-moving lizard known for its ability to color-change, a muted tendency of it evident in these images of two different animals.  A similar species, the blunt-nosed leopard lizard (Gambelia sila) may be found in California. They are also known for fierce biting, shown here by the one who has fastened tightly onto the cloth thrown over it in order to remove it from a trapped location.  It can and does kill snakes and small mammals.

Read more about the long-nosed leopard lizard at the Online Field Guide to The Reptiles and Amphibians of Arizona

Below, a closer image of a larger individual, also photographed in Hot Springs Canyon, in April 2014.

Return to Lizards