Gambelia sila
Gambelia sila | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Reptilia |
Order: | Squamata |
Suborder: | Iguania |
Family: | Crotaphytidae |
Genus: | Gambelia |
Species: | G. sila
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Binomial name | |
Gambelia sila (Stejneger, 1890)
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Synonyms[2] | |
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Gambelia sila, commonly known as the blunt-nosed leopard lizard, is a species of lizard in the family Crotaphytidae. The species is endemic to southern California.
Taxonomy
Gambelia sila was originally described by
Geographic range
Gambelia sila is found only in Southern California. It used to be found in the San Joaquin Valley and adjacent foothills ranging from Stanislaus County, in the south, to the northern tip of Santa Barbara County. However, it is only found in elevations of 800 meters (2,600 feet) and below. Gambelia sila can now only be found in isolated sections of undeveloped land in the San Joaquin Valley. In the northern part of the San Joaquin Valley it can be found in the Ciervo Hills, Tumey Hills, Panoche Hills, Anticline Ridge, Pleasant Valley, and the Lone Tree, Sandy Mush Road, Whites Bridge, Horse Pasture, and Kettleman Hills Essential Habitat Areas. In the southern part of the San Joaquin Valley it can be found in Pixley National Wildlife Refuge, Liberty Farm, Allensworth, Kern National Wildlife Refuge, Antelope Plain, Buttonwillow, Elk Hills, Lost Hills, and Tupman Essential Habitat Areas; on the Carrizo and Elkhorn Plains; north of Bakersfield around Poso Creek; in western Kern County in the area around the towns of Maricopa, McKittrick, and Taft; at the Kern Front Oil Field; at the base of the Tehachapi Mountains on the Tejon Ranch; and just west of the California Aqueduct on the Tejon Ranch and Rancho San Emidio.
Diet
The diet of Gambelia sila mainly consists of an assortment of invertebrates and other lizards. The insects that it normally preys on are: grasshoppers, beetles, bees, wasps, and ants. The blunt-nosed leopard lizard is also known to eat other species of lizards, and sometimes eats its own offspring. It is an agile predator, with the ability to leap 60 centimetres (2 feet), making it very easy for it to catch its prey.
Physical characteristics
The blunt-nosed leopard lizard (Gambelia sila) is a relatively large lizard in the
Breeding
In G. sila the breeding season is initiated in April and lasts into or through June. Male and female pairs are commonly seen together and often occupying the same burrow systems. In June and July, 2-6
Conservation status
Gambelia sila, also known as the blunt-nosed leopard lizard, is listed as a federal endangered species and is listed by the State of California as an endangered species and fully protected species. This species is thought to have declined as a result of habitat destruction and habitat fragmentation caused by development and habitat modification. This lizard used to be found in all of the San Joaquin Valley and the adjacent foothills of southern California. The Blunt-nosed leopard lizard now only occupies a few, scattered, undeveloped plots of land on the floor of the San Joaquin Valley and in the foothills of the Coast Range. San Joaquin Valley is a desert experiencing an ecological shift due to invasive species of non-native annual grasses most likely spread by grazing cows. The blunt-nosed leopard lizard along with other small terrestrial vertebrates are declining due to the ecological changes of the San Joaquin Valley as it is hypothesized that the invasive plants are altering vegetative structure. Although cattle may have originally been a factor in the establishment of these invasive species of plants, it was discovered by David Germano et al. that continued grazing, in order to keep the spread of the grasses limited, allowed for an increase in population size of not only the blunt-nosed leopard lizard, but other suffering species of the Valley as well.
Sources
This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (July 2013) |
- Hammerson, G.A. (2007). "Gambelia sila". . Retrieved 12 November 2021. Listed as Endangered (EN A1ce v2.3)
- "Gambelia sila ". ITIS (Integrated Taxonomic Information System). www.itis.gov. Retrieved on 10-26-2012.
- CSU Stanislaus (2006), Endangered Species Recovery Program, Dept. of Biological Sciences, One University Circle, Turlock, California 95382. http://esrp.csustan.edu/publications/pubhtml.php?doc=sjvrp&file=chapter02K00.html. Retrieved on 10-26-2012.
- Blunt-nosed Leopard Lizard (Gambelia sila). Arkive.com. Wildscreen, n.d. Web. 24 Oct. 2012. [1].
- Germano, David J. (2007). "Food Habits of the Blunt-Nosed Leopard Lizard". Southwestern Naturalist 52 (2): 318-23. BioOne. 6 Oct. 2010. Web. 24 Oct. 2012. [2]
- Germano DJ, Williams DF (1993). "Recovery of the blunt-nosed leopard lizard: past efforts, present knowledge, and future opportunities". Trans. West. Sec. Wildl. Soc. 28: 38-47.
- Montanucci RR (1965). "Observations on the San Joaquin leopard lizard, Crotaphytus wislizenii silus Stejneger". Herpetologica 21: 270-283.
- Stebbins RC (1985). A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians, Second Edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. 336 pp.
- Tollestrup K (1983). "The social behavior of two species of closely related leopard lizards, Gambelia silus and Gambelia wislizenii ". J. Tierpsychol. 62: 307-320.
- United States Fish and Wildlife Service (1985). Blunt-nosed leopard lizard revised recovery plan. Portland, Oregon: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 85 pp.
References
- . Retrieved 12 November 2021.
- ^ "Gambelia sila ". The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
Further reading
- ISBN 0-394-50824-6. (Gambelia silus, pp. 507–508 + Plate 347).
- McGuire, Jimmy A. (1996). "Phylogenetic Systematics of Crotaphytid Lizards (Reptilia: Iguania: Crotaphytidae)". Bull. Carn. Mus. Nat. Hist. (32): 1-142. (Gambelia silus, pp. 102–106).
- ISBN 0-307-47009-1(hardcover). (Gambelia silus, pp. 108–109).
- Stejneger L (1890). "Annotated List of Reptiles and Batrachians Collected by Dr. C. Hart Merriam and Vernon Bailey on the San Francisco Plateau and Desert of the Little Colorado, Arizona, with Descriptions of New Species". North American Fauna 3: 103-118. (Crotaphytus silus, new species, p. 105).