Orange-throated Whiptail

Fascinating facts about the Orange-throated Whiptail

• A quick glance at its back reveals five or six light-colored stripes running over a dark dorsal surface.
• Measuring 5–7.2 cm from snout to vent, this lizard has an orange throat that is vivid during the breeding season.
• Juveniles sport cobalt-blue legs and tails, a startling splash of color that fades as they mature, while adult males may turn their entire belly orange, a trait that sometimes appears on gravid females along the lower jaw.
• When it moves, the whiptail’s gait is a series of sharp, jerking hops rather than a smooth crawl.

About the Orange-throated Whiptail

The orange-throated whiptail (Aspidoscelis hyperythrus) measures 5–7.2 cm from snout to vent and has five or six light-colored stripes on a dark dorsal side that may be black, brown, or gray. Its ventral surface is whitish-yellow or cream, and the throat is orange in breeding season, sometimes extending over the entire ventral surface of males and occasionally tinting the lower jaw of gravid females. Juveniles have cobalt-blue legs and tails. The species has a forked tongue that it flicks continually, and males have larger femoral pores than females. It moves with a distinctive, jerking gait.

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