Gambelia is a genus of lizards, commonly known as leopard lizards, within the family Crotaphytidae. Leopard lizards are indigenous to arid environments of southwestern North America. Specifically, in San Joaquin Valley and southeastern Carrizo Plain in California, is where the endangered species inhabits as it lives in isolated populations. Furthermore, the Gambelia Sila or leopard lizard is active during the spring to early summer for 2.5 months after they estivate and goes back into hibernation soon after.

Species

Three species are recognized as being valid.

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! Image !! Scientific name !! Common Name !! Distribution

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|120px || Gambelia copeii <small>(Yarrow, 1882)</small>||Cope's leopard lizard || Baja California peninsula and adjacent southern California.

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|120px || Gambelia sila <small>(Stejneger, 1890)</small>||blunt-nosed leopard lizard ||southern California.

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|120px || Gambelia wislizenii <small>(Baird & Girard, 1852)</small>||long-nosed leopard lizard ||United States from Oregon to Idaho in the north and from California to Texas in the south, south to northern Mexico in Baja California, Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, and Zacatecas.

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

References

Further reading

  • Baird SF (1859). United States and Mexican Boundary Survey, Under the Order of Lieu. Col. W.H. Emory, Major First Cavalry, and United States Commissioner. [Volume 2, Part 2]. Reptiles of the Boundary, with Notes by the Naturalists of the Survey. Washington, District of Columbia: Department of the Interior. 35 pp. + Plates I-XLI. (Gambelia, new genus, p.&nbsp;7).
  • Smith HM, Brodie ED Jr (1982). Reptiles of North America: A Guide to Field Identification. New York: Golden Press. 240 pp. . (Genus Gambelia, p.&nbsp;108).