Southern Alligator Lizard (Elgaria multicarinata) Fact Sheet: Physical Characteristics

*12 inches total length

Source: Stebbins, Robert C. 2003. Western Reptiles and Amphibians, 3rd Edition. New York: Houghton Mifflin.

• Slender, snake-like body, short legs, large head with strong jaws, and a distinctive, slightly forked tongue (Lemm 2006)
• General coloration on upper side: brown, gray, reddish or yellowish with dark vertical crossbars spotted with white
• Tail length up to twice its body length

• Little difference between the sexes
  • Some males have heads a little wider than females
  • Males are not more than 10 % larger than females overall
  • Difficult for observers to determine sex by casual inspection

• Like all members of the Anguid family, body covered with overlapping bony plates underneath the scales (Ditmars 1933)
• Scales on belly are strongly keeled
• A prominent skin fold runs down both sides the length of the body; this fold allows flexibility when lungs are expanded, when large volumes of prey consumed, and perhaps when eggs distend the body cavity (Stebbins 1966)
• Yellow eyes (northern species have dark eyes)
• Tongue slightly forked at tip
  • Aids in gathering air-borne scents
  • Odors are transferred to scent organ in roof of mouth (Ditmars 1933)

Southern Alligator Lizards can be seen in a variety of coloration patterns.

Note how this lizard's tail is regrowing.

Image credit: Alan Schimerer via Flickr. Public domain.

Ditmars (1933)
Lemm (2006)
Stebbins (1966)
Wiens and Slingluff (2001)