The orange-throated whiptail (Aspidoscelis hyperythrus ) is a species of lizard in the family Teiidae. The species was previously placed in the genus Cnemidophorus. Three subspecies are recognized as being valid, including the nominotypical subspecies.
The subspecific names, beldingi and schmidti, are in honor of American ornithologist Lyman Belding and American herpetologist Karl Patterson Schmidt, respectively.
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TerrestrialTerrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land (e.g., cats, ants, snails), as compared with aquatic animals, which liv...
Oviparous animals are female animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive...
Precocial species are those in which the young are relatively mature and mobile from the moment of birth or hatching. Precocial species are normall...
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starts withA. hyperythrus has five or six light-colored stripes down a black, brown, or grey dorsal side. The middle stripe may be forked at both ends. The species is whitish-yellow or cream on the venter, and has an orange throat (females and juveniles may lack this character). Its head is yellow-brown to olive-colored, and its tongue is forked and flicked continually. It has a snout-to-vent length of 5–7.2 centimetres (2.0–2.8 in).
Juveniles of this species have cobalt blue legs and tails. The entire ventral surface of males, including the tail, may be orange, although gravid females may also have some orange especially lining the lower jaw. The colors are most distinct in the breeding season. Males have larger femoral pores than females.
A. hyperythrus is native to southern California in the United States, and to the states of Baja California and Baja California Sur in Mexico.
The orange-throated whiptail has a distinctive, jerking gait.
