The Yellow-Backed Spiny Lizard

The Yellow-backed Spiny Lizard, Sceloporus uniformis, is endemic to (can only be found in) the United States. It was once thought to be a sub species of the desert spiny lizard, Sceloporus magister but was reclassified as it’s own distinct subspecies.

Laura Camp from San Juan Capistrano, CA, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

S. uniformis can be found mostly in Nevada, in a small part of southeastern California, and in along the Nevada-Arizona, Nevada-Utah borders.

These lizards like basking on rocks, trees, and other hard surfaces for thermoregulation and waiting for their prey to pass by. They are ambush predators. Yellow-backed spiny lizards eat small invertebrates including ants, beetles, caterpillars, and grasshoppers. If they can catch them, they will also eat smaller lizards, nestling birds, and plant material (leaves, flowers, and berries).

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