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Reptilia    Squamata (part-other lizards)    Teiidae  
Plateau Spotted Whiptail
Aspidoscelis scalaris (Cope, 1892)
as-pid-OSS-uh-lis — skah-LAR-is
Taxon Links
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Catalog of American Amphibians and Reptiles
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USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database

SSAR 9th Edition Comments:
 Esquivel-Ramírez et al. (2021, Acta Zoologica 102: 129–142) found that A. scalaris and A.gularis form separate mtDNA clades, but they did not include samples from near the type locality of septemvittatus. Despite treating the two forms as conspecific, Hall (2016, Ph.D. dissertation, University of Texas at Arlington) found strong genetic differentiation in RADseq data between A. scalaris septemvittatus and A. gularis gularis. (de Queiroz, Kevin and Lauren M. Chan. 2025. Squamata (excluding snakes) – Lizards. Pages 23-37 in Kirsten E. Nicholson (Editor), Scientific and Standard English Names of Amphibians and Reptiles of North America North of Mexico, with Comments Regarding Confidence in Our Understanding, 9th Edition. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, Lawrence, Kansas. 87 pp.)

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Open icons indicate questionable records, including those with coordinate uncertainty greater than 10,000 m (approximately 6 miles). Click a marker to view metadata.
Occurrences:; 2,887 Total; 2,484 Museum; 403 Other

The locality database contains 8,094,832 records, and geographic and taxonomic errors exist. Logged-in, registered users may report a potential issue directly from the marker popup.
Shaded range maps are based on curated specimens and provided gratis by CNAH. (Version: 2023.04.08.10.29.42)
Download map data (GeoJSON):
Polygon Range File Museum Literature Fossil Personal Observation Citizen Science

Province/State Distribution:
United States: Texas

Taxonomic Etymology:
A whiptail lizard with a step-like pattern.
Aspidoscelis — Greek for “shield leg.”
scalaris — Latin scalaris = “ladder-like” or “stepped,” referring to the pattern or scale arrangement.

First instance(s) of published English names:
No historic English names have been assigned to this taxon yet.


Selected References:
1892 Cope, Edward D. Color patterns in Cnemidophorus. American Naturalist 25:1135-1136
1931 Burt, Charles E. A study of the teiid lizards of the genus Cnemidophorus with special reference to their phylogenetic relationships. Bulletin of the United States National Museum (154):1-286
1970 Gorman, George C. Chromosomes and the systematics of the family Teiidae (Sauria, Reptilia). Copeia 1970(2):230-245
2002 Reeder, Tod W., Charles J. Cole, and Herbert C. Dessauer. Phylogenetic relationships of Whiptail lizards of the genus Cnemidophorus (Squamata: Teiidae): A test of monophyly, reevaluation of karyotypic evolution, and review of hybrid origins. American Museum Novitates (3365):1-61
2025 Taylor, Harry L., William B. Neaves, Diana P. Baumann, Charles J. Cole, and Peter Bauman. Two new color-pattern classes in the parthenogenetic Teiid Lizard Aspidoscelis exsanguis (Chihuahuan Spotted Whiptail), their ontogenetic origins, and a redefinition of pattern class T. Herpetological Review 55(3):341–349

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