Three little companions you might recognize
The Los Angeles Basin is home to three types of lizards, according to reptile curator Russ Smith of the Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens. Below are Smith’s notes on each, along with insights from Chicago-based Earth scientist Ellin Beltz’s well-regarded work “Translations of the Scientific Names of the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America.”
WESTERN FENCE LIZARD
According to Beltz, the scientific name of this lizard, Sceloporus occidentalis, actually has science behind it. The genus name comes from the Greek skelos meaning “leg” and porus meaning “pore,” and refers to pores on the hind legs. The species name occidentalis identifies it as occurring west of the Cascade Range. American naturalist Spencer Fullerton Baird and French explorer Charles Girard first reported it in 1852. Baird went on to become the first commissioner of the U.S. Department of Fish and Fisheries. Also known as a bluebelly, the fence lizard is the most likely to be caught out in the open, on a rock or fence. Unlike the more urban alligator lizard, it is more likely to be seen in semirural suburban and foothill areas.
SOUTHERN ALLIGATOR LIZARD
It isn’t clear where the word Elgaria in Elgaria multicarinata came from. “Possibly named for an ‘Elgar’ or a pun on ‘alligator,’ ” guesses Beltz. The multicarinata refers to the coppery scales and means richly keeled. It occurs from the Pacific Northwest and Cascade Range right down the West Coast, through the Sierra to Baja California. Unusual for our local lizards, alligator lizards make good mothers: After laying groups of five to 10 eggs, each the size of a Good & Plenty, between May and July, they watch over them rather than abandoning them. When the eggs hatch, the baby lizards are “ready to go,” says Smith, “real cute little guys, about 3 inches long.” Adults can live 15 years and become 20 inches long.
WESTERN SIDE-BLOTCHED LIZARD
If Uta stansburiana had been discovered in California by somebody called Wilson, it might have been the Ca Wilsonii. But it was discovered in Utah by engineer and expedition leader Capt. Howard Stansbury and named by Baird and Girard in his honor. A small, perfectly formed lizard often referred to as “well camouflaged,” meaning dull in color. An unflappable little guy that works scrub and eats an estimated 9,000 bugs per year. It may or may not have the distinguishing blotches on either side of the chest by the forelimbs.
TO LEARN MORE
Peterson Field Guides “Western Reptiles and Amphibians” by Robert C. Stebbins (Houghton Mifflin, $22)
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“Firefly Encyclopedia of Reptiles and Amphibians”
by Tim Halliday and Kraig Adler ($40)
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San Diego Natural History Museum field guide on
lizards: www.sdnhm.org/field guide/
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For photographs from lizard- spotting trips in California: www.wildherps.com /index.html
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For Ellin Beltz’s lizard names and translations: ebeltz.net
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