California Lizards and How to Find Them

Auteur

Emily Taylor is a professor of biological sciences at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, where she conducts research on the physiology, ecology, and conservation biology of lizards and snakes. Taylor is founder of the community science initiative Project RattleCam (rattlecam.org) and owner of Central Coast Snake Services (centralcoastsnakeservices.com). Her first book, California Snakes and How to Find Them, was published by Heyday in 2024. She lives in Atascadero with her husband, Steve, and their menagerie of rescue animals, including Pax the dog, Baby the boa constrictor, Aperol Spritz the bearded dragon, and rattlesnakes Buzz and Snakeholio. Follow her at @snakeymama. 


Texte du rabat

The author of California Snakes and How to Find Them invites budding reptile enthusiasts into a wonderland of lizards.

Lizards: they are cute, endearing, and mind-bogglingly diverse, and yet they are so easy to overlook among California’s natural abundance. Start watching them, though, and a wonderland of lizard life appears. In California Lizards and How to Find Them, lizard lover Emily Taylor profiles over 60 native and introduced species, from California's iconic Western Fence Lizard to the adorable Desert Iguana to the chonky Ringed Wall Gecko. With her expert knowledge and joyous, laugh-out-loud writing, Taylor provides tips for finding, watching, and responsibly catching lizards. She offers absorbing insights on lizard evolution, and she explains the toll of invasive lizard species on California's ecosystems. Featuring more than 100 full-color photographs, and designed for easy use in everyday life, this is the ideal guide for budding reptile enthusiasts and longtime naturalists alike.

Contenu

Preface 
 Introduction 
 Lizards in Wonderland: Why California Has So Many Lizards 
 What are Lizards? 
 A Tale of Two Lizards 
 How to Find and Watch Lizards in California 
 Catching Lizards: A Cautionary "Tail" 
 Family Anguidae 


• Northern Alligator Lizard

• Southern Alligator Lizard


• Panamint Alligator Lizard

 Family Anniellidae 


• Legless Lizards

 Family Chamaeleonidae 


• Jackson’s Chameleon

 Family Crotaphytidae 


• Great Basin Collared Lizard

• Baja California Collared Lizard

• Blunt-nosed Leopard Lizard


• Long-nosed and Cope’s Leopard Lizards

 Family Dactyloidae 


• Green Anole


• Brown Anole

 Family Eublepharidae 


• Switak’s Banded Gecko


• Western Banded Gecko

 Family Gekkonidae 


• Rough-tailed Bowfoot Gecko


• House Geckos

 Family Helodermatidae 


• Gila Monster

• Family Iguanidae

• Desert Iguana


• Common Chuckwalla

 Family Lacertidae 


• Italian Wall Lizard

 Family Phrynosomatidae 


• Zebra-tailed Lizard

• Banded Rock Lizard

• Coast Horned Lizard

• Pygmy Short-horned Lizard

• Flat-tailed Horned Lizard

• Desert Horned Lizard

• Common Sagebrush Lizard

• Desert Spiny Lizard

• Fence Lizards

• Granite Spiny Lizard

• Fringe-toed Lizards

• Brush Lizards

• Ornate Tree Lizard


• Common Side-blotched Lizard

 Family Phyllodactylidae 


• Peninsula Leaf-toed Gecko

• Wall Geckos

• Family Scincidae

• Ocellated Skink

• Gilbert’s Skink


• Western Skink

 Family Teiidae 


• Orange-throated Whiptail

• Non-native Whiptails


• Western Whiptail

 Family Xantusiidae 


• Sandstone and Granite Night Lizards

• Island Night Lizard

• Desert Night Lizard and Relatives

 Acknowledgments 
 Recommended Further Reading 
 About the Author