23 March, 2024

In the past two weeks there were nearly 500 observations of Uta. Most of those (~300) were from southern California, which is continuing to give insight into the timing of reproduction in this the Western Side-blotched Lizard (Uta stansburiana elegans in particular). But other sub-species are starting to show up such as Nevada Side-blotched Lizards (U.s.nevadensis) and Eastern Side-blotched Lizards (U.s.stejnegeri) and Plateau Side-blotched Lizards (U.s.uniformis).

Good candidates for lizard of the week were these two or three colorful males (by @somebees, @vlmanning, @naturaltwenty, @bill-blauvelt, and @tmills), or this observation (by @zeevng) of what appears to be a colorful male and two females under the same cover object, but instead I went with this copulating pair (by @naturephotosuze)....the first observation of the year of mating Side-blotched Lizards. Hopefully the first of many. This observation, or somewhere around it, were the 50,000th Uta added to iNaturalist, which is another reason to celebrate it.

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Posted on March 23, 2024 03:03 PM by petezani