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Reptilia    Squamata (part-other lizards)    Phrynosomatidae  
Mohave Fringe-toed Lizard
Uma scoparia Cope, 1894
YOU-mah — skoh-PAH-ree-ah
Taxon Links
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The Reptile Database
Catalog of American Amphibians and Reptiles
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GenBank
USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database

SSAR 9th Edition Comments:
 There are no current SSAR comments for this taxon.

(,   Museum Voucher) (,   Observation) (,   Literature Record), (,   Citizen Science), (  Fossil)
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:; 2,403 Total; 1,802 Museum; 601 Other

The locality database contains 8,094,850 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: 2024.04.22.13.45.58)
Download map data (GeoJSON):
Polygon Range File Museum Literature Fossil Personal Observation Citizen Science

Province/State Distribution:
United States: Arizona California Nevada

Taxonomic Etymology:
A sand-dwelling lizard associated with desert broom plants or dune scrub.
Uma — An arbitrary name coined by Baird in 1859, possibly derived from Native American sources or used for its brevity. Its etymological origin remains unclear.
scoparia — From Latin scoparius, “broom-like” or “of the broom plant.” Possibly refers to the plant genus Scoparia or to desert vegetation typical of its habitat.

First instance(s) of published English names:
Mojave Fringe-toed Lizard (Uma notata scoparia: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.);


Selected References:
1958 Norris, Kenneth Stafford. The evolution and systematics of the iguanid genus Uma and its relation to the evolution of other North American desert reptiles. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 114(3):247-326
1977 Adest, Gary Andrew. Genetic relationships in the genus Uma (Iguanidae). Copeia 1977(1):47-52
1989 Queiroz, de, Kevin. Morphological and biochemical evolution in the sand lizards. Dissertation. University of California, Berkeley. 491pp.
2013 Lambert, Shea M. and John J. Wiens. Evolution of viviparity: A phylogenetic test of the cold-climate hypothesis in Phrynosomatid lizards. Evolution 67(9):2614–2630
2020 Derycke, Elizabeth G., Andrew D. Gottscho, Daniel G. Mulcahy, and Kevin De Queiroz. A new cryptic species of fringe-toed lizards from southwestern Arizona with a revised taxonomy of the Uma notata species complex (Squamata: Phrynosomatidae). Zootaxa 4778(1):67-100

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