General Description: Yellow-backed Spiny Lizards (Sceloporus uniformis) are large, stocky lizard with large, spiny scales and crossbars on the back. While most are smaller, I've seen them with bodies the size of chipmunks at the top of the Sheep Range.

Taxonomy: Phrynosomatid Lizard Family (Phrynosomatidae). Formerly Sceloporus magister spp. uniformis.

Technical Description: Body size 3.5 to 5.5 inches, stocky; tail longer than head and body. Dorsal scales large and spiny. Dorsal color light with dark crossbars and flecks; some scales yellow. Side of neck with black triangular-shaped mark. Ear opening partially covered with long, pointed scales.

Males have a deep blue patch on the throat and dark blue patches, edged in black, running down the sides of the belly and joining to cover the groin. In females, the blue throat and belly patches are weak or absent.

Diet: Feeds on ants, beetles, flies, grasshoppers, other lizards, and plant material.

Habitat: Occurs in a variety of upland and riparian habitats, especially Mojave Desert Scrub and Pinyon-Juniper Woodlands with rocks or trees to climb. Less common in the Creosote-Bursage Flats habitat type).

Range: Southeastern California, southern Nevada, southwest Utah, and northern and western Arizona; arid to semiarid habitats from sea level to 6,000 ft.

Breeding: Mate during early summer; eggs hatch in late summer.

Similar Species: No other species in southern Nevada has the enlarged, spiny scales seen on spiny lizards. Western Fence Lizard looks similar, but without the enlarged scales.

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