Sceloporus

Spiny lizards is a common name for the genus Sceloporus in the family Phrynosomatidae. The genus is endemic to North America, with various species ranging from New York, to Washington, and one occurring as far south as northern Panama. The greatest diversity is found in Mexico. This genus includes some of the most commonly seen lizards in the United States. Other common names for lizards in this genus include fence lizards, scaly lizards, bunchgrass lizards, and swifts.

Sceloporus

Stephen Lea · Public Domain · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Also called
spiny lizardPBDB
Sits inside
IguanidaePBDB
Diet
omnivorePBDB, for Iguanidae
Life habit
ground dwellingPBDB, for Iguanidae
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Amniota

Time the record covers

At least 16 million years on record.

The record covers at least 16.3 Mya to 129 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 18.5 Mya to 0 Mya.

Miocene — about 12 of 56 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 5 of 56 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 39 of 56 occurrencesPleistocene19–18 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences18–18 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences18–17 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences17–16 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences16–16 Mya — about 1 occurrence16–15 Mya — about 1 occurrence15–15 Mya — about 1 occurrence15–14 Mya — about 1 occurrence14–13 Mya — about 1 occurrence13–13 Mya — about 1 occurrence13–12 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences12–11 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences11–11 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences11–10 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences10–9.5 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences9.5–8.9 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences8.9–8.2 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences8.2–7.6 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences7.6–7.0 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences7.0–6.3 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences6.3–5.7 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences5.7–5.1 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences5.1–4.4 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences4.4–3.8 Mya — about 1 occurrence3.8–3.2 Mya — about 1 occurrence3.2–2.5 Mya — about 2 occurrences2.5–1.9 Mya — about 2 occurrences1.9–1.3 Mya — about 3 occurrences1.3–633 ka Mya — about 6 occurrences633 ka–0 Mya — about 28 occurrences16.3 Mya129 ka19 Mya0 Mya

56 occurrences of Sceloporus on record, most of them in the Pleistocene. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

56 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

13 formations

Alamosa — 37.37°N, 105.75°WValentine — 42.78°N, 100.03°WValentine — 42.81°N, 100.05°WValentine — 42.49°N, 98.11°WRunningwater — 42.37°N, 103.32°WRunningwater — 41.70°N, 103.10°W"unnamed sandstone" — 33.90°N, 117.00°WPalm Springs — 32.97°N, 116.13°WPalomas — 33.10°N, 107.30°WCrooked Creek — 37.20°N, 100.30°WKingsdown — 37.20°N, 100.30°WWood Mountain — 49.17°N, 105.99°WRexroad — 37.20°N, 100.30°WAsh Hollow — 42.30°N, 98.00°WArikaree — 43.20°N, 108.20°WAlturas — 41.49°N, 120.65°W

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The named rock units Sceloporus has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 35 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Sceloporus and its relatives

Pleistocene

Where Sceloporus and its relatives were recorded in the Pleistocene.

Found in the same rock

1,103 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 49 sites for Sceloporus, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

40 references

Each of the 56 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 28 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content3

Picture of Sceloporus

Credit
Stephen Lea
Licence
Public Domain
Commercial use
the licence allows it

CT scan

Licence
In Copyright
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Sceloporus chrysostictus · ucm:Amphibian And Reptile Specimens:28914

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Credit
dgred
Licence
CC Attribution
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record

Smithsonian Open Access was not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itIguanidae through timeFormations of the PleistoceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Wiegmann 1828