DESCRIPTION: A small (up to 60 mm or 2.4" from snout to vent) lizard with soft skin and a broad, somewhat flattened head. Its markings consist of dark blotches, spots, or speckles on a yellow to light olive background. The scales on the upper surface of the body are small and granular and a fold of skin runs along each lower side. The scales of the belly and tail are larger and rectangular. The scales on top of the head are large, smooth, and plate-like. The eyes are lidless, pupils are vertically elliptical, and the irises are orange or reddish brown.

DISTRIBUTION: This Arizona endemic is found in a small chain of mountain ranges in central Arizona at elevations ranging from 730 m (2,400') to about 1,770 m (5,800').

HABITAT: Rugged, rocky slopes and boulder fields within the Arizona Upland Sonoran Desertscrub and Interior Chaparral communities are home to this lizard. Patches of Great Basin Conifer Woodland also occur within its range. This crevice-dweller frequents large outcroppings and large boulder clusters and is occasionally encountered in and under plant debris such as dead Dasylirion.

BEHAVIOR: The majority of this lizard's life is spent within the shelter of rock crevices. It thermoregulates by basking near the sun-warmed edge of the crevice and under sun-warmed rocks and rarely ventures away from shelter during daylight hours.

DIET: Bezy's Night Lizard feeds on ants, flies, beetles, a variety of other insects, and spiders.  

REPRODUCTION: Live bearing. Mating probably takes place in spring. A brood of about 3 young is probably born in summer.

By Thomas C. Brennan


Bezy, R.L., 2005. The Night Lizards (Xantusia) of Arizona. Sonoran Herpetologist. 18(2) 14-19.

Brennan, T. C., & A. T. Holycross. 2006. A Field Guide to Amphibians and Reptiles in Arizona. Arizona Game and Fish Department. Phoenix, AZ

Brennan, T. C., & A. T. Holycross. 2005. A Field Guide to Amphibians and Reptiles of Maricopa County. Arizona Game and Fish Department. Phoenix, AZ

Stebbins, R.C. 2003. A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians, Third Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, MA.