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Desert spiny lizard

Sceloporus magister · Lizards · Reptiles

Desert spiny lizard (Sceloporus magister): Stout, strong-looking lizard 3.25-5.5 inches (Zion key; 3.25-6 in per Saguaro NPS). Gray to brown mottled with yellow, green, brown and metallic blue; black shoulder markings. 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.

Desert spiny lizard on a sandstone wall
Photo by Zoshua Colah on Unsplash
Scientific name
Sceloporus magister
Family
Phrynosomatidae
In North America
Native
Range
Nevada and southwestern Colorado south to northern Baja California, Sinaloa and Coahuila; west of the Central Valley in California and east to western Texas; near sea level to about 1,520 m.
Biology

How to identify it

Stout, strong-looking lizard 3.25-5.5 inches (Zion key; 3.25-6 in per Saguaro NPS). [1][2][3][4]

Gray to brown mottled with yellow, green, brown and metallic blue; black shoulder markings. [1][2][3][4]

Males have iridescent blue along the sides and belly and more orange and yellow than Clark's spiny lizard; large overlapping scales. [1][2][3][4]

Underside of the tail has black bars (Zion key). [1][2][3][4]

Compared with the clark's spiny lizard: Found at higher elevation, often in trees; black and white stripes on the forelimbs (Tuzigoot NPS page). [1][2][3][4]

Field notes

  • Identification Confirm a desert spiny lizard before you act. Compared with the clark's spiny lizard: Found at higher elevation, often in trees; black and white stripes on the forelimbs (Tuzigoot NPS page).[1][2][3][4]
Field knowledge

Where it lives

Arid and semiarid plains and lower slopes: desert shrubland and woodland, mesquite-yucca grassland, juniper-mesquite woodland, arroyos, playa edges and cottonwood-willow river zones. [1][2][3][4]

Occurs on trees, rocks and the ground near cover. [1][2][3][4]

Field knowledge

How it behaves

Active about April-May to September-October in the north; more comfortable on ground and rocks than on trees. [1][2][3][4]

Shelters under rocks or in rodent burrows; eggs laid in soil. [1][2][3][4]

Eats mainly insects and spiders, sometimes centipedes, lizards and plant material. [1][2][3][4]

Two clutches a year in Utah; hatchlings appear from July in Texas. [1][2][3][4]

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

Nevada and southwestern Colorado south to northern Baja California, Sinaloa and Coahuila; west of the Central Valley in California and east to western Texas; near sea level to about 1,520 m.

Biology

Sources

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

  1. NatureServe · reviewed 2026-09-30

    NatureServe

  2. U.S. National Park Service · reviewed 2026-09-30

    U.S. National Park Service

  3. U.S. National Park Service · reviewed 2026-09-30

    U.S. National Park Service

  4. U.S. National Park Service · reviewed 2026-09-30

    U.S. National Park Service