DESCRIPTION: A medium-sized (up to 120 mm or 4.75″ from snout to vent), cream, tan, or reddish-brown colored lizard with a relatively flat body and a flattened tail. Coloration usually closely matches the sand on which the lizard lives. The back is marked with small orange spots surrounded by a network of black reticulations. On the neck and shoulders the spots are in rows and the black reticulations form lines. The underside is plain pale cream with a conspicuous dark spot on each side of the belly. The underside of the tail is marked with distinct, black crossbars. There are thin, dark lines on the throat. During the mating season (spring) the lips often become orange-red and an orange wash appears on the throat, limbs, and each side of the belly. This lizard has numerous adaptations for life on fine sand including a fringe of enlarged, pointed scales on each hind toe to increase traction, a chisel-shaped snout for burrowing, a countersunk lower jaw, interlocking eyelids, flaps over the ear openings, and valves in the nasal passages to keep sand out of the body. The scales are very small and granular. Its straight, thin lines on the throat, orange coloration on the belly during breeding season, and dark lines on the neck and shoulders distinguish this lizard from the similar looking Mohave Fringe-toed Lizard.

DISTRIBUTION: This lizard is found in the valleys of the far southwestern corner of the state. Its range extends to a few miles northeast of Dateland. In our state it occurs at elevations ranging from near sea level to about 700′.

HABITAT: This sand specialist occupies open dune fields and shrub invaded sand hummocks with at least sporadic, open patches of fine, wind-blown sand. It occurs within the Lower Colorado River subdivision of the Sonoran Desertscrub community.