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{{Short description|Species of lizard}}
{{italicItalic title}}
{{Taxobox | name = ''Sceloporus uniformis''▼
{{Speciesbox
| name = Yellow-backed spiny lizard
| image = Sceloporus uniformis (1 of 1).jpg
▲{{Taxobox | nametaxon = ''Sceloporus uniformis''
| image_width = 240px
| binomial_authorityauthority = Phelan & Brattstrom, 1955▼
| regnum = [[Animalia]]
| synonyms = '''''Sceloporus magister uniformis'''''▼
| phylum = [[Chordata]]
| subphylum = [[Vertebrata]]
| classis = [[Reptilia]]
| ordo = [[Squamata]]
| subordo = [[Lacertilia]]
| familia = [[Phrynosomatidae]]
| genus = ''[[Sceloporus]]''
| species = '''''S. uniformis'''''
| binomial = ''Sceloporus uniformis''
▲| binomial_authority = Phelan & Brattstrom, 1955
▲|synonyms=''Sceloporus magister uniformis''
}}
 
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==Taxonomy==
''Sceloporus uniformis'' was originally described as a [[subspecies]] of ''[[Sceloporus magister]]'' in 1955.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Phelan|first1= Robert L.|last2=Brattstrom|first2= Baynard H.|year= 1955|title=Geographic variation in ''Sceloporus magister''|journal= Herpetologica|volume=11|number=1|pages=1-141–14|jstor=3889392}}</ref>. In 2006, genetic analysis revealed that ''S. uniformis'' is sufficiently distinct to merit classification as its own species.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Schulte|first1=James A.|last2=Macey|first2=J. Robert|last3=Papenfuss|first3=Theodore J.|title=A genetic perspective on the geographic association of taxa among arid North American lizards of the Sceloporus magister complex (Squamata: Iguanidae: Phrynosomatinae)|journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution|date=2006|volume=39|issue=3|pages=873–880|doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2005.04.033|url=http://people.clarkson.edu/~jschulte/Schulte_Lab_at_Clarkson_University/Publications_files/Schulteetal06MPE.pdf|pmid=16580231|bibcode=2006MolPE..39..873S |s2cid=46284863 }}</ref>
 
==Description==
[[File:Sceloporus uniformis (male).jpg|left|thumb|190x190px|Sceloporus uniformis (adult male).]]
''S. uniformis'' is a large robust lizard, and adults can grow to 5.5 inches in body length (snout-to-vent), with a tail slightly longer than the body. Color is brown or tan with yellow and black dorsal stripes or mottling and a black collar on the sides of the neck.<ref name="CalHerps" />
 
Males are larger than females, and have a swollen tail base, enlarged postanal scales and femoral pores, and bluish markings on the throat and belly. Females have a pale throat and underbelly, with faint or no blue markings. The head of a female may be orange or reddish in the breeding season.<ref name="CalHerps" />
 
==Range, habitat, and diet==
[[File:Sceloporus uniformis (Breeding female).jpg|left|thumb|Sceloporus uniformis (breeding female). Inyo County, CA. |189x189px]]
This lizard is native to the Mojave and Great Basin deserts. It is endemic to the United States, and can be found in California, Nevada, Utah, and Arizona.<ref>{{Cite journal|url = http://www.bioone.org/doi/full/10.3160/0038-3872-111.1.25|title = Reproduction of the Yellow-backed Spiny Lizard, ''Sceloporus uniformis'' (Squamata: Phrynosomatidae) from California|last = Goldberg|first = Stephen|date = 2012|journal = Bulletin, Southern California Academy of Sciences|doi = |pmid = |access-date = 26 August 2015}}</ref> S. uniformis can be found living in desert flats, semiarid plains, low mountain slopes, and riparian woods.<ref name="CalHerps">{{Cite web|title = Yellow-backed Spiny Lizard - ''Sceloporus uniformis''|url = http://www.californiaherps.com/lizards/pages/s.uniformis.html|website = www.californiaherps.com|accessdate = 2015-08-26|last = Nafis}}</ref>▼
[[File:OVRO 40m telescope 03.jpg|thumb|right|On the [[OVRO 40 meter Telescope]]]]
▲This lizard is native to the Mojave and Great Basin deserts. It is endemic to the United States, and can be found in California, Nevada, Utah, and Arizona.<ref>{{Cite journal|url = http://www.bioone.org/doi/full/10.3160/0038-3872-111.1.25|title = Reproduction of the Yellow-backed Spiny Lizard, ''Sceloporus uniformis'' (Squamata: Phrynosomatidae) from California|last = Goldberg|first = Stephen|date = 2012|journal = Bulletin, Southern California Academy of Sciences|doi = |pmid = 10.3160/0038-3872-111.1.25|access-date = 26 August 2015|volume=111|pages=25–28| s2cid=85234938 }}</ref> ''S. uniformis'' can be found living in desert flats, semiarid plains, low mountain slopes, and riparian woods.<ref name="CalHerps">{{Cite web|title = Yellow-backed Spiny Lizard - ''Sceloporus uniformis''|url = http://www.californiaherps.com/lizards/pages/s.uniformis.html|website = www.californiaherps.com|accessdateaccess-date = 2015-08-26|last = Nafis}}</ref>
 
Although ''S. uniformis'' is primarily [[Ambush predator|an ambush predator]], on occasion it will actively forage. This species will eat a variety of small invertebrates and their larvae including ants, beetles, grasshoppers, spiders, centipedes, and caterpillars. Occasionally, small lizards, nestling birds, leaves, flowers and berries are also consumed.<ref name="CalHerps" />
 
==Behavior==
Like many desert species, ''S. uniformis'' basks in the morning on rocks or any hard surface that is in direct sunlight. It will seek shelter, usually underground in burrows, during the hottest part of the day in the summertime. It hibernates in late fall and during the cold months of winter before re-emerging in spring.<ref name=":0CalHerps" />
 
==References==
{{commons category|Sceloporus uniformis}}
{{Reflist}}
 
{{Taxonbar|from=Q10876787}}
[[Category:Phrynosomatids]]▼
[[Category:Fauna of the Mojave Desert]]▼
[[Category:Fauna of the Southwestern United States]]▼
[[Category:Reptiles of the United States]]▼
 
▲[[Category:PhrynosomatidsSceloporus]]
{{lizard-stub}}
▲[[Category:Fauna of the Mojave Desert]]
▲[[Category:Fauna of the Southwestern United States]]]
▲[[Category:ReptilesEndemic reptiles of the United States]]
[[Category:Reptiles described in 1955]]
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