Madrean alligator lizard

The Madrean alligator lizard (Elgaria kingii), also known commonly as King's alligator lizard and el lagarto de montaña in Mexican Spanish, is a species of lizard in the family Anguidae. The species is native to the southwestern United States and adjacent northwestern Mexico.

Madrean alligator lizard
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Anguimorpha
Family:	Anguidae
Genus:	Elgaria
Species:	E. kingii
Binomial name
Elgaria kingii Gray, 1838[2]
Synonyms[2]RDB
Gerrhonotus kingii (Gray, 1838) Gerrhonotus multifasciatus A.M.C. Duméril & Bibron, 1839 Elgaria usafa H.M. Smith et al. 2003

Etymology

The specific name, kingii, is in honor of Phillip Parker King, an Australian-born Royal Navy officer who surveyed the coast of South America.^[3]

Geographic range

E. kingii is found from southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico, United States, southward to Jalisco, Colima, Nayarit, southeastern Zacatecas, and southwestern Aguascalientes, Mexico.

Habitat

E. kingii is found in a variety of habitats including desert, grassland, shrubland, and forest.^[1]

Reproduction

E. kingii is oviparous.^[2]

Subspecies

Three subspecies are recognized as being valid, including the nominotypical subspecies.^[2]

• Elgaria kingii ferruginea (Webb, 1962)
• Elgaria kingii kingii Gray, 1838
• Elgaria kingii nobilis Baird & Girard, 1852

Nota bene: A trinomial authority in parentheses indicates that the subspecies was originally described in a genus other than Elgaria.