Common Spotted Whiptail
Common Spotted Whiptail
Aspidoscelis gularis
Reptilia
COMMON

Stats

Lifespan
4-8 yrs
Size
Medium
Diet
Insectivore
Activity
Diurnal
Social
Solitary
Biome
Temperate grassland
Range
North America
Movement
Running
Breeding
Egg-laying
Defense
Speed
Status
Common

About

A slender, fast-moving lizard of the American Southwest and northern Mexico, marked with pale spots and stripes running down its back and a whip-thin tail often twice the length of its body. Many populations are made up entirely of females that reproduce by parthenogenesis, laying eggs that hatch as genetic clones of the mother.

Life cycle

  1. 1.
    hatchling
    A miniature reptile emerges from its egg already independent.
  2. 2.
    juvenile
    A juvenile sheds and grows, often duller-colored than adults.
  3. 3.
    adult
    Fully grown with adult size and coloration.

Learn more

Taxonomy

Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Class
Reptilia
Order
Squamata
Family
Teiidae
Genus
Aspidoscelis
Species
Aspidoscelis gularis