Gambelia

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.<ref name="Ivey 2020">Template:Cite journal</ref> 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.<ref name="Ivey 2020" />

Description

Species in the genus Gambelia superficially resemble those of the genus Crotaphytus. However, one difference between the genera Gambelia and Crotaphytus is that leopard lizards have fracture planes in their tails, allowing the tails to break off when grasped by predators.Template:Citation needed

Etymology

The generic name, Gambelia, is in honor of American naturalist William Gambel.<ref>Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. Template:ISBN. (Genus Gambelia, p. 97).</ref>

Species

Three species are recognized as being valid.<ref>Template:EMBL genus www.reptile-database.org.</ref>

Image	Scientific name	Common Name	Distribution
File:Gambelia copei.jpg	Gambelia copeii (Yarrow, 1882)	Cope's leopard lizard	Baja California peninsula and adjacent southern California.
File:LIZARD, BLUNT-NOSED LEOPARD (Gambelia sila) (3-30-08) van metre wash, carrizo plain national monument, slo co, ca -2 (2380352944).jpg	Gambelia sila (Stejneger, 1890)	blunt-nosed leopard lizard	southern California.
File:LIZARD, LONG-NOSED LEOPARD (gambelia wislizenia) moab, grand co, utah (14790202096).jpg	Gambelia wislizenii (Baird & Girard, 1852)	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.

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

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. 7).
• Smith HM, Brodie ED Jr (1982). Reptiles of North America: A Guide to Field Identification. New York: Golden Press. 240 pp. Template:ISBN. (Genus Gambelia, p. 108).