The granite night lizard (''Xantusia henshawi'') is a
species of
xantusiid
Night lizards (family Xantusiidae) are a group of small scincomorph lizards, averaging from less than to over snout–vent length. Most species are viviparous (live-bearing), with the exception of those in the genus '' Cricosaura''. The family ...
lizard
Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic since it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia alt ...
endemic to
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
.
["''Xantusia henshawi'' ". The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.]
Etymology
The
specific name Specific name may refer to:
* in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database
In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules:
* Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...
, ''henshawi'', is in honor of American naturalist
Henry Wetherbee Henshaw
Henry Wetherbee Henshaw (March 3, 1850 – August 1, 1930) was an American ornithologist and ethnologist. He worked at the U.S. Bureau of Ethnology from 1888 to 1892 and was editor of the journal ''American Anthropologist''.
Biography
Early l ...
.
[Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (''Xantusia henshawi'', p. 121).]
Geographic range
''X. henshawi'' is found in
Mexico in the Mexican state of
Baja California, and also in the United States in adjacent southern
California.
Description
''X. henshawi'' is flat-bodied with a broad, flat head and a soft skin. It has rounded, dark dorsal spots on a pale yellow or cream background. Its scales are granular on its
dorsum, but large and squarish on the ventral surface. These lizards have large eyes with vertical pupils, and they lack eyelids.
Habitat and behavior
Granite night lizards are often found on rocky slopes with large
exfoliating boulders and abundant crevices, but are occasionally found in
coastal sage scrub
Coastal sage scrub, also known as coastal scrub, CSS, or soft chaparral, is a low scrubland plant community of the California coastal sage and chaparral subecoregion, found in coastal California and northwestern coastal Baja California. It is w ...
and
chaparral
Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant community and geographical feature found primarily in the U.S. state of California, in southern Oregon, and in the northern portion of the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico. It is shaped by a Mediterranean c ...
without boulders. They are active in crevices during the day, but move on the surface at night.
[Fisher, Robert N.; Case, Ted J. (1997). ''A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Coastal Southern California''. San Diego: Department of Biology, University of California at San Diego. 46 pp. . USGS Western Ecological Research Center website. http://www.werc.usgs.gov/fieldguide/index.htm.]
See also
*
California coastal sage and chaparral ecoregion
References
Further reading
*
Smith HM,
Brodie ED Jr (1982). ''Reptiles of North America: A Guide to Field Identification''. New York: Golden Press. 240 pp. . (''Xantusia henshawi'', pp. 84–85).
*
Stebbins RC (2003). ''A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians, Third Edition''. The Peterson Field Guide Series ®. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Company. 533 pp. . (''Xantusia henshawi'', p. 306 + Plate 35 + Map 77).
*
Stejneger L (1893). "Diagnosis of a new California lizard". ''Proceedings of the United States National Museum'' 16: 467. (''Xantusia henshawi'', new species).
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1973768
Granite night lizard
Fauna of the California chaparral and woodlands
Reptiles of the United States
Reptiles of Mexico
Reptiles described in 1893
Taxa named by Leonhard Stejneger