| Coachella Valley fringe-toed lizard | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Suborder: | Iguania |
| Family: | Phrynosomatidae |
| Genus: | Uma |
| Species: | U. inornata |
| Binomial name | |
| Uma inornata Cope, 1895 | |
The Coachella Valley fringe-toed lizard (Uma inornata) is a species of phrynosomatid lizard. [2]
The species is most closely related to Uma notata, the Colorado Desert fringe-toed lizard. Genetic variation within the species is small, equivalent to that of one population of Uma notata. [3] The species population is isolated from other closely related lizards. [3]
The species is well adapted to its desert habitat. It has a wedged-shaped nose which enables it to burrow through loose, fine sand. Elongated scales cover the ears to keep out blowing sand, and specialized nostrils allow it to breathe below the sand without inhaling sand particles. [4]
During breeding season, male lizards minimize time spent foraging for food to maximize time for mating. They preferentially ate readily-available flowers rather than spending time foraging. [5] Female lizards observed an energy-maximizing feeding strategy all-year around. [5]
More specifically, in terms of feeding, the Coachella Valley fringe-toed lizard is omnivorous. Their diet consists of ants, beetles, flowers, leaves, spiders, and sometimes even their own shed skin. [6] This, however, varies by season. During the spring, they tend to consume flowers and plant-dwelling arthropods, and during the summer, this switches to ground-dwelling arthropods and leaves. [7] Adult males and females have different diets only during breeding season, where males consume ants and plants in the mornings, whilst females feed on ants and other insects throughout the day. [8]
The Coachella Valley fringe-toed lizards are talented as they are able to identify when there is an arthropod present underground, and dig them out of the sand to consume. In fact, they are agile and sometimes even jump to catch flowers that are too tall. Their water consumption is likely through their food. [9]
The lizard is endemic to Coachella Valley, California. [2] The lizard is restricted to habitats with fine, windblown sand deposits in the sandy plains of the Coachella Valley, Riverside County, California. Since the 1970s, estimates of this species' habitat has decreased by about 75% due to human activities. Only a small portion of its original habitat has wind blowing in the fine sand that creates the “blowsand” habitat that it needs to survive. [4]
The Coachella Valley fringe-toed lizard's habitat has been negatively affected in the past 3 decades, due to increases in the human population, urban development, off-roading, and non-native invasive plants. Thus, the Coachella Valley fringe-toed lizard was declared as federally threatened and endangered in 1980. [10]
Unfortunately, there have been severe droughts in California and the Coachella Valley. In 2002, the yearly precipitation was below 10mm. [11] Low precipitation and frequent droughts reduce the growth of plants and food sources for the Coachella Valley fringe-toed lizard. The lack of food sources contribute to a species' survival, thus this may be a cause for the decrease in mean reproductive productivity and decline in mean hatchling numbers and population densities.
It is listed as an endangered species in California, a threatened species in the United States, and the IUCN classifies it as endangered. [4] [12]
The Coachella Valley National Wildlife Refuge, for the Coachella Valley fringe-toed lizard, is contained within the Coachella Valley Preserve, and Indio Hills Palms State Reserve, located east of Palm Springs near Palm Desert, California, in the Colorado Desert region of the Sonoran Desert.
Thousand Palms is a census-designated place (CDP) in the Coachella Valley of Riverside County, California, United States. The population was 7,715 at the 2010 census, up from 5,120 at the 2000 census.
Fringe-toed lizards are lizards of the genus Uma in the family Phrynosomatidae, native to deserts of North America. They are adapted for life in sandy deserts with fringe-like scales on their hind toes hence their common name.
Colorado Desert is a part of the larger Sonoran Desert located in California, United States and Baja California, Mexico. It encompasses approximately 7 million acres, including the heavily irrigated Coachella, Imperial and Mexicali valleys. It is home to many unique flora and fauna.
Indio Hills Palms Park Property and the Coachella Valley Preserve, located in the Indio Hills, contain the Thousand Palms Oasis and are a protected area in the Coachella Valley, located east of Palm Springs near Palm Desert, California. The Coachella Valley National Wildlife Refuge is contained within the Coachella Valley Preserve, and all are in the Colorado Desert section of the Sonoran Desert and adjacent to the Lower Colorado River Valley region.
Gambelia sila, commonly known as the blunt-nosed leopard lizard, is a species of lizard in the family Crotaphytidae. The species is endemic to southern California.
The flat-tail horned lizard is a species of lizard in the family Phrynosomatidae. A species of reptile, it is endemic to the Sonoran desert of the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. Its multiple adaptations for camouflage help to minimize its shadow. The species is threatened, with a restricted range under pressure from human activities such as agriculture and development, and is specially protected in the United States.
The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens, formerly the Living Desert Museum, is a non-profit zoo and desert botanical garden located in Palm Desert, Riverside County, California, United States. The Living Desert is home to over 500 animals representing over 150 species and welcomes over 500,000 visitors annually. Situated in the Sonoran Desert of the Coachella Valley and Santa Rosa Mountains foothills near Palm Springs, California, The Living Desert is set on 1,200 acres, with 80 developed as zoo and gardens.
The Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument is a National Monument in southern California. It includes portions of the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto mountain ranges, the northernmost ones of the Peninsular Ranges system. The national monument covers portions of Riverside County, west of the Coachella Valley, approximately 100 miles (160 km) southeast of downtown Los Angeles.
The dune hairy-footed gerbil, or the Namib dune gerbil is a species of rodent found only in Namibia. Its natural habitat is temperate desert where it lives in loose sand among sand dunes, feeding opportunistically on arthropods, seeds and green vegetation.
The Garden slender salamander or Southern California slender salamander is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae. It is endemic to northern Baja California in Mexico and Southern California in the United States.
The Mojave fringe-toed lizard is a species of medium-sized, white or grayish, black-spotted diurnal lizard in the family Phrynosomatidae. It is adapted to arid climates and is most commonly found in sand dunes within the Mojave Desert. Fringe-toed lizards are characterized by their fringed scales on their hind toes which make locomotion in loose sand possible.
The Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge is located in the Imperial Valley of California, 40 miles (64 km) north of the Mexican border. Situated at the southern end of the Salton Sea, the refuge protects one of the most important nesting sites and stopovers along the Pacific Flyway. Despite its location in the Colorado Desert, a subdivision of the larger Sonoran Desert, the refuge contains marine, freshwater, wetland, and agricultural habitats which provide sanctuary for hundreds of birds and wetland species, including several that have been listed as endangered or sensitive by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Coachella Valley National Wildlife Refuge is a 3,709-acre (15.01 km2) protected area in Riverside County, California's Coachella Valley. It lies within the unincorporated community of Thousand Palms, just north of Palm Desert. The refuge contains the majority of critical habitat for the Coachella Valley Fringe-toed Lizard within the Coachella Valley Preserve and Indio Hills Palms State Reserve.
Sand to Snow National Monument is a U.S. National Monument located in San Bernardino County and northern Riverside County, Southern California.
The desert egernia, unadorned desert-skink or desert skink is a species of skink, a lizard in the family Scincidae. The desert egernia is endemic to the continent of Australia, and is widespread, with populations recorded in all mainland states and territories except the Australian Capital Territory. The desert egernia is found in dry, desert areas with deep, uncompacted sandy/loamy soils and little significant vegetation cover.
The Colorado Desert fringe-toed lizard is a species of medium-sized, diurnal lizard in the family Phrynosomatidae. It is adapted to arid climates and is most commonly found in sand dunes within the Colorado Desert of the United States and Mexico.
The Mohawk Dunes fringe-toed lizard is a species of phrynosomatid lizard endemic to the U.S. state of Arizona. Its name is a reference to American actress Uma Thurman, as both a pun on the genus name Uma as well as a tribute to the actress for her conservation advocacy.
The Yuman Desert fringe-toed lizard is a species of phrynosomatid lizard endemic to northwestern Mexico, although a hybrid population of it and Uma notata ranges north to southwestern Arizona in the United States.
