California rock lizard
Encyclopedia
The California rock lizards are a genus
(Petrosaurus) of New World
lizards in the family Phrynosomatidae
.
and Baja California
, Mexico
.
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
(Petrosaurus) of New World
New World
The New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...
lizards in the family Phrynosomatidae
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...
.
Geographic range
They are endemic to southern CaliforniaCalifornia
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
and Baja California
Baja California
Baja California officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is both the northernmost and westernmost state of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North...
, 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...
.
Species
The genus Petrosaurus contains three species.- Petrosaurus mearnsiBanded rock lizardThe banded rock lizard is a species of phrynosomatid lizard. The specific name, mearnsi, is in honor of American naturalist Edgar Alexander Mearns, who collected the first specimens.-Geographic range:...
(StejnegerLeonhard Hess StejnegerLeonhard 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....
, 1894) - banded rock lizard - Petrosaurus repens (Van DenburghJohn Van DenburghJohn Van Denburgh was a U.S. herpetologist from California.He was born in San Francisco and enrolled at Stanford University in 1891. As of 1895, he organized the herpetology department of the California Academy of Sciences. In 1897 he got a Ph.D. from Stanford University. Additionally, he got an M.D...
, 1895) - Petrosaurus thalassinusBaja Blue Rock LizardThe Baja blue rock lizard is a species of large, diurnal phrynosomatid lizard.-Description:It reaches up to 45 cm long including the tail, and has a flattened body with small, smooth, granular scales and slightly keeled scales near the tail...
(CopeEdward Drinker CopeEdward Drinker Cope was an American paleontologist and comparative anatomist, as well as a noted herpetologist and ichthyologist. Born to a wealthy Quaker family, Cope distinguished himself as a child prodigy interested in science; he published his first scientific paper at the age of nineteen...
, 1863) - Baja blue rock lizard