''Holbrookia maculata'', commonly known as the lesser earless lizard, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of lizard in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Phrynosomatidae The Phrynosomatidae are a diverse family of lizards, sometimes classified as a subfamily (Phrynosomatinae), found from Panama to the extreme south of Canada. Many members of the group are adapted to life in hot, sandy deserts, although the spiny ...

. The species is native to the southwestern and central

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and northern

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. There are eight recognized subspecies.

Geographic range

''H. maculata'' is found in the U.S. states of

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to th ...

, Oklahoma,

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ke ...

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux Native American tribes, who comprise a large porti ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

, and

Wyoming Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to the s ...

, as well as in the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, Guanajuato, Jalisco, Nuevo León, San Luis Potosí, Sinaloa, Sonora, and

Zacatecas , image_map = Zacatecas in Mexico (location map scheme).svg , map_caption = State of Zacatecas within Mexico , coordinates = , coor_pinpoint = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type ...

. www.reptile-database.org.

Habitat

The preferred natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s of ''H. maculata'' are shrubland,

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses ( Poaceae). However, sedge ( Cyperaceae) and rush ( Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur na ...

, and desert.

Description

''H. maculata'' is a small species of lizard. Adults have a total length (including tail) of . The

dorsal scales In snakes, the dorsal scales are the longitudinal series of plates that encircle the body, but do not include the ventral scales In snakes, the ventral scales or gastrosteges are the enlarged and transversely elongated scales that extend down t ...

are granular and smooth. There are no external ear openings. There are two folds across the throat. The throat of the female is orange during the breeding season. The underside of the tail has no dark spots. Behler JL, King FW (1979). ''The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Reptiles and Amphibians''. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. 743 pp., 657 color plates. . (''Holbrookia maculata'', pp. 510–511 + Plates 346, 366, 370).

Diet

''H. maculata''

preys Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill th ...

upon

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three ...

s and

spider Spiders ( order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species ...

Reproduction

''H. maculata'' is oviparous.

Subspecies

The following eight subspecies of ''Holbrookia maculata'' are recognized as being valid, including the

nominotypical subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

. *'' H. m. bunkeri'' H.M. Smith, 1935 – Bunker's earless lizard *'' H. m. campi'' *'' H. m. dickersonae'' Schmidt, 1921 – Dickerson's earless lizard *'' H. m. flavilenta''

Cope The cope (known in Latin as ''pluviale'' 'rain coat' or ''cappa'' 'cape') is a liturgical vestment, more precisely a long mantle or cloak, open in front and fastened at the breast with a band or clasp. It may be of any liturgical colour. A c ...

, 1883 *''H. m. maculata'' Girard, 1851 – northern earless lizard *'' ''H. m. perspicua'' Axtell, 1956 – eastern earless lizard, prairie eastern lizard *'' H. m. pulchra'' K.P. Schmidt, 1921 – Huachuca earless lizard *'' H. m. ruthveni'' H.M. Smith, 1943 – bleached earless lizard (an ecotonal subspecies from New Mexico's White Sands)

Etymology

The

subspecific name In zoological nomenclature, a subspecific name is the third part of a trinomen. In zoology there is only one rank below that of species, namely "subspecies". In botanical nomenclature, there are several levels of subspecific names, such as ''var ...

, ''bunkeri'', is in honor of American zoologist Charles Dean Bunker (1870–1948). Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (''Holbrookia maculata bunkeri'', p. 42; ''H. m. dickersonae'', p. 72; ''H. m. ruthveni'', p. 230). The subspecific name, ''campi'', is in honor of American paleontologist Charles Lewis Camp. The subspecific name, ''dickersonae'', is in honor of American herpetologist

Mary Cynthia Dickerson Mary Cynthia Dickerson (1866–1923) was an American herpetologist and the first curator of herpetology at the American Museum of Natural History, as well as the first curator in the now defunct department of Woods and Forestry. For ten years she ...

. The subspecific name, ''ruthveni'', is in honor of American herpetologist

Alexander Grant Ruthven Alexander Grant Ruthven (April 1, 1882 – January 19, 1971) was a herpetologist, zoologist and the President of the University of Michigan from 1929 to 1951. Biography Alexander Grant Ruthven was born in 1882 in Hull, Iowa. He graduated from ...

References

External links

Animals of White Sands National Park