Species: Elgaria coerulea
Northern Alligator Lizard
Species
Encyclopedia of Puget Sound
Classification
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Craniata
Class
Reptilia
Order
Squamata
Family
Anguidae
Genus
Elgaria
NatureServe
Classification
Other Global Common Names
lézard alligator du Nord
Informal Taxonomy
Animals, Vertebrates - Reptiles - Lizards
Formal Taxonomy
Animalia - Craniata - Reptilia - Squamata - Anguidae - Elgaria - Molecular data support recognition of the family Anniellidae and anguid subfamilies Gerrhonotinae and Anguinae as monophyletic groups (Macey et al. 1999).
Ecology and Life History
Migration
true - false - false - Mark-recapture studies in British Columbia indicated that individuals did not make long-distance moves between summer habitat and hibernation sites (Rutherford and Gregory 2003).
Non-migrant
true
Locally Migrant
false
Food Comments
Feeds on insects, ticks, spiders, millipedes, and snails.
Reproduction Comments
Apparently mates in April and May. Litter size averages 4-6, depending on locality. One litter per year. Females sexually mature in 32-44 months in northern California.
Length
33
Conservation Status
NatureServe Global Status Rank
G5
Global Status Last Reviewed
2005-05-13
Global Status Last Changed
1996-10-23
Distribution
Conservation Status Map
<img src="http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/servlet/GetMapGif?CA.BC=S4&US.CA=SNR&US.ID=S2&US.MT=S3&US.NV=S2&US.OR=S5&US.UT=SNR&US.WA=S5" alt="Conservation Status Map" style="width: 475px; height: auto;" />
Global Range
G - 200,000-2,500,000 square km (about 80,000-1,000,000 square miles) - G - This lizard ranges from southern British Columbia (including Vancouver Island) southward through western Washington and western Oregon to west-central coastal California and the central Sierra Nevada (including the east side of Lake Tahoe basin) and Washoe County, Nevada (Vindum and Arnold 1997). It also ranges southward in the Rocky Mountains to northern Idaho and western Montana. Disjunct populations occurs in several areas in south-central Oregon, northeastern Calofornia, and northwestern Nevada (Stebbins 2003). The western edge of the distribution includes some small coastal islands (Stebbins 2003). The elevational range extends from sea level to around 3,200 m (Stebbins 2003).
Global Range Code
G
Global Range Description
200,000-2,500,000 square km (about 80,000-1,000,000 square miles)