Madrean Alligator Lizard Elgaria kingii
Description
The Madrean alligator lizard (Elgaria kingii), also known commonly as King's alligator lizard and el lagarto de montaña in Mexican Spanish, is a species of lizard in the family Anguidae. The species is native to the southwestern United States and adjacent northwestern Mexico.
The specific name, kingii, is in honor of Phillip Parker King, an Australian-born Royal Navy officer who surveyed the coast of South America.[3]
E. kingii is found from southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico, United States, southward to Jalisco, Colima, Nayarit, southeastern Zacatecas, and southwestern Aguascalientes, Mexico.
E. kingii is found in a variety of habitats including desert, grassland, shrubland, and forest.[1]
Three subspecies are recognized as being valid, including the nominotypical subspecies.[2]
Nota bene: A trinomial authority in parentheses indicates that the subspecies was originally described in a genus other than Elgaria.
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Madrean alligator lizard", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0. Content may have been omitted from the original, but no content has been changed or extended.
Common Names
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Family: Anguidae
Genus: Elgaria
Species: Madrean Alligator Lizard Elgaria kingii
Conservation Status
least concern (LC)