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Ornate tree lizard

Urosaurus ornatus · Lizards · Reptiles

Ornate tree lizard (Urosaurus ornatus): Small, slim lizard (about 3.8-5.9 cm) with a body and tail patterned with blotches or irregular crossbars in black, dark brown, tan or gray to match the local substrate. Two bands of enlarged scales run down the back with a series of smaller scales between them; base of the tail is usually rusty. 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 ornatus
Family
Phrynosomatidae
In North America
Native
Range
Southwestern United States and northern Mexico: southeastern California, southern Nevada, Utah, western Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico and southwest/central Texas, south to Sonora, Sinaloa, Chihuahua and Coahuila. Not in Canada.
Biology

How to identify it

Small, slim lizard (about 3.8-5.9 cm) with a body and tail patterned with blotches or irregular crossbars in black, dark brown, tan or gray to match the local substrate. [1][2][3]

Two bands of enlarged scales run down the back with a series of smaller scales between them; base of the tail is usually rusty. [1][2][3]

Adult males have blue to blue-green belly patches with a metallic sheen and a green, blue-green, orange or yellow throat patch (dewlap). [1][2][3]

Females have a white belly, with a white, orange or yellow throat. [1][2][3]

Compared with the long-tailed brush lizard (urosaurus graciosus): Tail more than twice the body length and no row of smaller scales down the middle of the enlarged dorsal band. [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 ornate tree lizard before you act. Compared with the long-tailed brush lizard (urosaurus graciosus): Tail more than twice the body length and no row of smaller scales down the middle of the enlarged dorsal band.[1][2][3]
Field knowledge

Where it lives

Riparian forest (mesquite, oaks, cottonwoods), rocky terrain, and the sides of buildings and fence posts near streams and rivers; also desert with or without trees, sheltering in shrubs, up to about 2,770 m. [1][2][3]

Field knowledge

How it behaves

Perches on trees, rocks and fence posts and ambushes spiders, beetles, ants, termites and other insects from an elevated, motionless position. [1][2][3]

Hunts from dawn into the late afternoon; males hold small overlapping territories with a dominance hierarchy in which the heaviest male dominates. [1][2][3]

Aggregates in winter hibernacula from mid-November to late February; climbs high into trees for protection. [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

Southwestern United States and northern Mexico: southeastern California, southern Nevada, Utah, western Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico and southwest/central Texas, south to Sonora, Sinaloa, Chihuahua and Coahuila. Not in Canada.

Biology

Sources

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

  1. NatureServe · reviewed 2026-09-30

    NatureServe

  2. University of Michigan Museum of Zoology · reviewed 2026-09-30

    University of Michigan Museum of Zoology

  3. Wikipedia · reviewed 2026-09-30

    Wikipedia