California Lizards and How to Find Them

The author of California Snakes and How to Find Them invites budding reptile enthusiasts into a wonderland of lizards.
"This guide joyfully celebrates the beauty and quirkiness of our native lizards." —John Muir Laws
Lizards: they are cute, endearing, and mind-bogglingly diverse, and yet they are so easy to overlook among California’s natural abundance. Start watching them, though, and a wonderland of lizard life appears. In California Lizards and How to Find Them, lizard lover Emily Taylor profiles over 60 native and introduced species, from California's iconic Western Fence Lizard to the adorable Desert Iguana to the chonky Ringed Wall Gecko. With her expert knowledge and joyous, laugh-out-loud writing, Taylor provides tips for finding, watching, and responsibly catching lizards. She offers absorbing insights on lizard evolution, and she explains the toll of invasive lizard species on California's ecosystems. Featuring more than 100 full-color photographs, and designed for easy use in everyday life, this is the ideal guide for budding reptile enthusiasts and longtime naturalists alike.
Also available in the California Herping Guides Series by Emily Taylor:

• California Snakes and How to Find Them
• California Amphibians and How to Find Them

List of contents

Preface

Introduction

Lizards in Wonderland: Why California Has So Many Lizards

What are Lizards?

A Tale of Two Lizards

How to Find and Watch Lizards in California

Catching Lizards: A Cautionary "Tail"

Family Anguidae

• Northern Alligator Lizard


• Southern Alligator Lizard


• Panamint Alligator Lizard

Family Anniellidae

• Legless Lizards

Family Chamaeleonidae

• Jackson’s Chameleon

Family Crotaphytidae

• Great Basin Collared Lizard


• Baja California Collared Lizard


• Blunt-nosed Leopard Lizard


• Long-nosed and Cope’s Leopard Lizards

Family Dactyloidae

• Green Anole


• Brown Anole

Family Eublepharidae

• Switak’s Banded Gecko


• Western Banded Gecko

Family Gekkonidae

• Rough-tailed Bowfoot Gecko


• House Geckos

Family Helodermatidae

• Gila Monster


• Family Iguanidae


• Desert Iguana


• Common Chuckwalla

Family Lacertidae

• Italian Wall Lizard

Family Phrynosomatidae

• Zebra-tailed Lizard


• Banded Rock Lizard


• Coast Horned Lizard


• Pygmy Short-horned Lizard


• Flat-tailed Horned Lizard


• Desert Horned Lizard


• Common Sagebrush Lizard


• Desert Spiny Lizard


• Fence Lizards


• Granite Spiny Lizard


• Fringe-toed Lizards


• Brush Lizards


• Ornate Tree Lizard


• Common Side-blotched Lizard

Family Phyllodactylidae

• Peninsula Leaf-toed Gecko


• Wall Geckos


• Family Scincidae


• Ocellated Skink


• Gilbert’s Skink


• Western Skink

Family Teiidae

• Orange-throated Whiptail


• Non-native Whiptails


• Western Whiptail

Family Xantusiidae

• Sandstone and Granite Night Lizards


• Island Night Lizard


• Desert Night Lizard and Relatives

Acknowledgments

Recommended Further Reading

About the Author

About the author

Emily Taylor is a professor of biological sciences at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, where she conducts research on the physiology, ecology, and conservation biology of lizards and snakes. Taylor is founder of the community science initiative Project RattleCam (rattlecam.org) and owner of Central Coast Snake Services (centralcoastsnakeservices.com). Her first book, California Snakes and How to Find Them, was published by Heyday in 2024. She lives in Atascadero with her husband, Steve, and their menagerie of rescue animals, including Pax the dog, Baby the boa constrictor, Aperol Spritz the bearded dragon, and rattlesnakes Buzz and Snakeholio. Follow her at @snakeymama.

Product details

• Authors: Emily Taylor, Taylor Emily
• Publisher: Heyday books
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 22.04.2025
• EAN: 9781597146715
• ISBN: 978-1-59714-671-5
• No. of pages: 208
• Series: California Herping Guides
• Subjects: Guides > Nature; Nature / Environmental Conservation & Protection, NATURE / Reference, NATURE / Animals / Wildlife, NATURE / Ecosystems & Habitats / Wilderness, NATURE / Animals / Reptiles & Amphibians, Reference works, Wildlife: general interest, Conservation of the environment, The Earth: Natural History General, The Earth: natural history: general interest, Zoology: amphibians and reptiles (herpetology), Wildlife: reptiles and amphibians: general interest, Wildlife: Reptiles & Amphibians, Wildlife: reptiles & amphibians: general interest