Tiger Whiptail

At a glance

Tiger Whiptail (Aspidoscelis tigris) is an IUCN Least Concern reptile with specific harvest rules tracked in 1 of 66 jurisdictions covered by CatchRules.

Confirmed by 21,919 research-grade iNaturalist observations, with California, Arizona, and Utah the top jurisdictions by observation count.

Notable details

• One of the fastest North American lizards, capable of sprinting across open desert terrain.
• Their tail is often more than twice the length of their body.
• Unlike some related whiptail species, tiger whiptails reproduce sexually with distinct males and females.
• Active diurnal foragers, they spend most daylight hours probing soil and debris for insects.
• Found in arid and semi-arid habitats across the western United States and Baja California.

Where Tiger Whiptail are seen

• California12,476 iNat obs
• Arizona4,126 iNat obs
• Utah2,831 iNat obs
• Nevada1,511 iNat obs
• Colorado393 iNat obs
• Idaho385 iNat obs

Background

The western whiptail (Aspidoscelis tigris) is a species of lizard in the family Teiidae. The species ranges throughout most of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. Most of its populations appear stable, and it is not listed as endangered in any of the states comprising its range. It lives in a wide variety of habitats, including deserts and semiarid shrubland, usually in areas with…

Background excerpt adapted from Wikipedia's Tiger Whiptail article (CC BY-SA). Visit Wikipedia for the full entry.

Other reptiles on CatchRules

• Pond SliderTrachemys scripta
• Painted TurtleChrysemys picta
• North American RacerColuber constrictor
• Ring-Necked SnakeDiadophis punctatus