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Baja California brush lizard

Urosaurus nigricaudus · Lizards · Reptiles

Baja California brush lizard (Urosaurus nigricaudus): Small, small-scaled brush lizard: dorsal scales only slightly enlarged and grading gradually into the granular side scales, and tail under twice the body length (unlike the long-tailed brush lizard). Good climber, most often seen on rock piles, rock outcrops or canyon walls and sheltering in cracks and crevices. This profile does not establish whether taking it is legal anywhere.

Check rules for a place and date

Certified rules currently represented in Hunt: coverage in development. This is coverage, not a legal answer.

Scientific name
Urosaurus nigricaudus
Family
Phrynosomatidae
In North America
Native
Range
Extreme southern California (mountains of San Diego County north nearly to the Riverside County line) into Baja California, per the California account that treats U. microscutatus as part of this species.
Biology

How to identify it

Small, small-scaled brush lizard: dorsal scales only slightly enlarged and grading gradually into the granular side scales, and tail under twice the body length (unlike the long-tailed brush lizard). [1][2][3]

Good climber, most often seen on rock piles, rock outcrops or canyon walls and sheltering in cracks and crevices. [1][2][3]

Compared with the long-tailed brush lizard (urosaurus graciosus): Tail more than twice the body length and relatively large dorsal scales that change abruptly to granular side scales. [1][2][3]

Compared with the ornate tree lizard (urosaurus ornatus): Has a series of smaller scales down the middle of the band of enlarged dorsal scales. [1][2][3]

Species it is confused with

Check these before deciding what you are looking at. If you are not certain what it is, do not shoot.

Field notes

  • Identification Confirm a baja california brush lizard before you act. Compared with the long-tailed brush lizard (urosaurus graciosus): Tail more than twice the body length and relatively large dorsal scales that change abruptly to granular side scales.[1][2][3]
Field knowledge

Where it lives

Arid and semiarid country with a good mix of rocks, outcrops, canyons and boulder piles: woodland, chaparral and desert habitats, particularly desert wash; nowhere common in California. [1][2][3]

Field knowledge

How it behaves

Diurnal: out all day in spring, restricted to morning and late afternoon in summer; emerges in early spring (mid-March near Poway and Julian, California) and stays active until about September. [1][2][3]

Eats beetles, ants, flies, thrips, aphids, termites, hemipterans and spiders. [1][2][3]

Complex social system with territorial males; clutches average 6 eggs (4-8), up to four clutches a season, hatching about 2 months after laying. [1][2][3]

Regulatory handoff

Limited legal take

Legal take of this species exists only under narrow conditions — a quota, a draw, a permit, a small area, or animals released or held on private land — set by the authorities below. Nowhere else is a legal opportunity implied, and Hunt shows one only where a certified rule establishes it.

Where legal take is listed

Being listed is not an open season. Seasons, zones, licences, methods and limits decide whether this animal may be taken on a given day and place — check Hunt or the authority before you go. Listings read 2026-09-30.

Geospatial intelligence

Where it is found

Extreme southern California (mountains of San Diego County north nearly to the Riverside County line) into Baja California, per the California account that treats U. microscutatus as part of this species.

Biology

Sources

Every claim above is attributed to one of these published sources.

  1. California Department of Fish and Wildlife · reviewed 2026-09-30

    California Department of Fish and Wildlife

  2. NatureServe · reviewed 2026-09-30

    NatureServe

  3. Wikipedia · reviewed 2026-09-30

    Wikipedia