Sceloporus merriami
Encyclopedia
The canyon lizard is a species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 of phrynosomatid
Phrynosomatidae
Phrynosomatidae is a diverse family of lizards, 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 lizards prefer rocky deserts or even relatively moist forest edges, and the short-horned lizard lives in prairie...

 lizard
Lizard
Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with nearly 3800 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica as well as most oceanic island chains...

 native to the southwestern United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 and northern Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

. The epithet merriami is in honor of American zoologist
Zoology
Zoology |zoölogy]]), is the branch of biology that relates to the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct...

 Clinton Hart Merriam
Clinton Hart Merriam
Clinton Hart Merriam was an American zoologist, ornithologist, entomologist and ethnographer.Known as "Hart" to his friends, Dr. Clinton Hart Merriam was born in New York City in 1855. His father, Clinton Levi Merriam, was a U.S. congressman. He studied biology and anatomy at Yale University and...

.http://ebeltz.net/herps/biogappx.html

Geographic range

It is found in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 in the state of Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

, and it is found in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

 in the states of Coahuila
Coahuila
Coahuila, formally Coahuila de Zaragoza , officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Coahuila de Zaragoza is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico...

, Durango
Durango
Durango officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Durango is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is located in Northwest Mexico. With a population of 1,632,934, it has Mexico's second-lowest population density, after Baja...

, and Chihuahua.

Description

Adults may reach 58 mm (2¼ inches) snout to vent length (SVL). Including the tail, they may reach 162 mm (6⅜ inches) in total length. The dorsal scales are small, and the lateral scales are granular.

Dorsally the canyon lizard is gray, tan, or reddish brown, matching the rocks on which it lives. There are four rows of dark spots on the back, and a vertical black line in front of the front leg. Males have blue and black lines on the throat.

Subspecies

There are seven recognized subspecies
Subspecies
Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...

 of S. merriami:
  • Big Bend canyon lizard, Sceloporus merriami annulatus
    Sceloporus merriami annulatus
    The Big Bend Canyon Lizard is a subspecies of the Canyon Lizard native to a fairly narrow range from the Big Bend region of the US state of Texas, to eastern Coahuila in Mexico. The epithet annulatus comes from the Latin noun annulus and refers to the banded subcaudal surface...

    H.M. Smith, 1937)
  • southeastern canyon lizard, Sceloporus merriami australis Williams, H.M. Smith & Chrapliwy, 1960
  • Ballinger’s canyon lizard, Sceloporus merriami ballingeri Lemos-Espinal, H.M. Smith, Auth & Chiszar, 2001
  • Presidio canyon lizard, Sceloporus merriami longipunctatus
    Sceloporus merriami longipunctatus
    The Presidio Canyon Lizard is a subspecies of the Canyon Lizard native to a narrow range in the Big Bend region of the US state of Texas and into adjacent states northern Mexico...

    Olson, 1973
  • Merriam's
    Clinton Hart Merriam
    Clinton Hart Merriam was an American zoologist, ornithologist, entomologist and ethnographer.Known as "Hart" to his friends, Dr. Clinton Hart Merriam was born in New York City in 1855. His father, Clinton Levi Merriam, was a U.S. congressman. He studied biology and anatomy at Yale University and...

     canyon lizard, Sceloporus merriami merriami Stejneger
    Leonhard Hess Stejneger
    Leonhard Hess Stejneger was a Norwegian-born American ornithologist, herpetologist and zoologist. Stejneger specialized in vertebrate natural history studies. He gained his greatest reputation with reptiles and amphibians....

    , 1904
  • Sanoja's canyon lizard, Sceloporus merriami sanojae Lemos-Espinal & Chiszar, 2003
  • Williams’
    Kenneth L. Williams
    Kenneth Lee Williams is a herpetologist and author of books on the subject of snake biology and classification. Williams retired from teaching in the Biology department of Northwestern State University and received emeritus status in 2001...

     canyon lizard, Sceloporus merriami williamsi Lemos-Espinal, Chiszar & H.M. Smith, 2000
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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