Elgaria is a genus of New World lizards in the family Anguidae. Their common name is western alligator lizards.[1]

Elgaria
Elgaria multicarinata eating a mantis
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Family: Anguidae
Subfamily: Gerrhonotinae
Genus: Elgaria
Gray, 1838
Type species
Elgaria multicarinata
Species

Seven, see text.

Geographic range

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Species in the genus Elgaria are distributed in western North America, from Mexico to Canada.[2]

Species

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There are seven species:[2]

Image Scientific name Common name Distribution
Elgaria cedrosensis (Fitch, 1934) Cedros Island alligator lizard Mexico (Cedros Island, and coastal S Baja California Norte)
  Elgaria coerulea (Wiegmann, 1828) Northern alligator lizard Pacific Coast and in the Rocky Mountains from southern British Columbia through Washington, northern Idaho and western Montana south through Oregon to the coastal range and the Sierra Nevada in central California
  Elgaria kingii Gray, 1838 Madrean alligator lizard Southwestern United States and adjacent northwestern Mexico
  Elgaria multicarinata (Blainville, 1835) Southern alligator lizard Baja California to the state of Washington
Elgaria panamintina (Stebbins, 1958) Panamint alligator lizard California
Elgaria paucicarinata (Fitch, 1934) San Lucan alligator lizard Mexico
Elgaria velazquezi Grismer & Hollingsworth, 2001 Central Peninsular alligator lizard Mexico


Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Elgaria.

References

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  1. ^ "Elgaria Gray, 1838". Integrated Taxonomic Information System.
  2. ^ a b Elgaria at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 14 May 2014.

Further reading

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  • Gray JE (1838). Catalogue of the Slender-tongued Saurians, with Descriptions of many new Genera and Species. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., First Series 1: 274–283, 388–394. (Elgaria, new genus, p. 390).
  • Gray JE (1845). Catalogue of the Specimens of Lizards in the Collection of the British Museum. London: Trustees of the British Museum. (Edward Newman, printer). xxviii + 289 pp. (Genus Elgaria, p. 46).
  • Stebbins RC (2003). A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians, Third Edition. The Peterson Field Guide Series ®. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin. xiii + 533 pp. ISBN 978-0-395-98272-3. (Genus Elgaria, p. 331).
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  •   Media related to Elgaria at Wikimedia Commons
  •   Data related to Elgaria at Wikispecies