Sceloporus grammicus

The mesquite lizard (Sceloporus grammicus) is a species of lizard. It is sometimes referred to as the graphic spiny lizard.

Geographic range

The mesquite lizard is native to the southern United States in the state of Texas, and to Mexico in the states of Chihuahua, Durango, Zacatecas, Coahuila, San Luis Potosí, Nuevo León, Tamaulipas, Oaxaca and Guerrero.

Reproduction

Sceloporus grammicus is ovoviviparous, meaning the female holds the eggs in her body until the babies hatch, giving the illusion of giving birth to live young.

Subspecies

There are four recognized subspecies of Sceloporus grammicus including the nominate race.

• Sceloporus grammicus disparilis Stejneger, 1916 - mesquite graphic lizard
• Sceloporus grammicus grammicus Wiegmann, 1828 - southern mesquite lizard
• Sceloporus grammicus microlepidotus Wiegmann, 1834 - northern mesquite lizard
• Sceloporus grammicus tamaulipensis Sites & Dixon, 1981 - Tamaulipas mesquite lizard

References

• Species Sceloporus grammicus at The Reptile Database

• Wiegmann, A.F.A. 1828. Beyträge zur Amphibienkunde. Isis (Oken) 21(4):364-383.
• Wiegmann, A.F.A. 1834. Herpetologia Mexicana, seu descriptio amphibiorum novae hispaniae, quae itineribus comitis de Sack, Ferdinandi Deppe et Chr. Guil. Schiede in Museum Zoologicum Berolinense Pervenerunt. Pars prima, saurorum species. Berlin, Lüderitz, iv + 54 pp.
• Stejneger, L.H. 1916. A new lizard in the genus Sceloporus from Texas. Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 29:227-230.
• Sites, J.W. and Dixon, J.R. 1981. A new subspecies of the Iguanid lizard, Sceloporus grammicus, from Northeastern Mexico, with comments on its evolutionary implications and the status of S. g. disparilis. Journal of Herpetology 15(1):59-69.