Resources Land). These lands should be managed 

 to maintain and enhance habitat suitable to the 

 blunt-nosed leopard lizard. Both refuges recognize 

 the importance of their lands to the survival of 

 the lizard; the Pixley National Wildlife Refuge 

 was used as a study area on the ecology of this 

 species (Tollestrup 1979). Also near Pixley, the 

 U.S. Forest Service will manage a tract of grass- 

 land comprising about 325 ha for this lizard 

 (Erode 1978). Essential habitat on private land 

 could be protected by agreement with land- 

 owners. 



The California Department of Fish and Game 

 has conducted field surveys and initiated coopera- 

 tive studies with the U.S. Forest Service, Universi- 

 ty of California at Berkeley, and several colleges 

 to further determine the distribution and status 

 of this lizard. A Blunt-Nosed Leopard Lizard Re- 

 covery Team has been formed to provide needed 

 coordination of effort to protect this species 

 (Anon. 1978, Erode 1978). 



AUTHORITIES 



John M. Erode (Recovery Team Leader) 

 California Department of Fish and Game 

 1701 Nimbus Road 

 Rancho Cordova, California 95670 



Richard R. Montanucci 

 Department of Zoology 

 Clemson University 

 Clemson, South Carolina 29631 



Kristine Tollestrup 

 Department of Biology 

 University of Chicago 

 1103 E. 57th Street 

 Chicago, Illinois 60637 



PREPARER'S COMMENTS 



Recent taxonomic changes for this lizard 

 warrant explanation to prevent confusion and 

 promote consistent use of currently accepted 

 nomenclature. The relationshiops and systematic 

 status of the lineages of crotaphytaform lizards 

 (leopard and collared lizards) of North America 

 have been undergoing revision by herpetologists 

 as new data and techniques become available. 

 Montanucci. (1970) presented evidence of genetic 

 and ecologic differentiation between the leopard 

 lizards of the San Joaquin Valley and those of 



more southern and eastern populations. This evi- 

 dence supports the recognition of the blunt-nosed 

 leopard lizard as a distinct species (Gambelia si- 

 lus), rather than a subspecies of the longnose leo- 

 pard lizard (G. wislizenii). 



Montanucci et al. (1975) present biochemical 

 evidence indicating that leopard lizards are suffici- 

 ently different from the closely related collared 

 lizards (genus Crotaphytus) to be considered a 

 separate genus [Gambelia). 



LITERATURE CITED/SELECTED 

 REFERENCES 



Anonymous. 1978. Blunt-nosed lizard recovery 

 plan. Part I. (draft). 12 pp. 



Erode, J. 1978. Blunt-nosed leopard lizard {Crota- 

 phytus silus). Pages 24-25 in At the Cross- 

 roads: a report on California's endangered and 

 rare fish and wildlife. Calif. Dep. Fish Game 

 Biannual Rep. 103 pp. 



Bury, R. B. 1972. Status report on California's 

 threatened amphibians and reptiles. Calif. 

 Dep. Fish Game, Inland Fisher. Rep. 72-2. 31 

 pp. 



Dick, D. 1977. Habitat disappearing for the leo- 

 pard lizard. Outdoor Calif. 38(6):37-38. 



Montanucci, R. R. 1965. Observations on the 

 San Joaquin leopard lizard Crotaphytus 

 wislizenii silus Stejneger. Herpetologica 

 21(4):270-283. 



1967, Further studies on leopard lizards, 



Crotaphytus wislizenii. Herpetologica 23(2): 

 119-126. 



1970. Analysis of hybridization between 



Crotaphytus wislizenii and Crotaphytus silus 

 (Sauria: Iguanidae) in California. Copeia 1970 

 (1):104-123. 



Montanucci, R. R., R. W. Axtell, and H. C. 

 Dessaur. 1975. Evolutionary divergence among 

 collard lizards (Cryophytus), with comments 

 on the status of Gambelia). Herpetologica 

 31(3):336-347. 



Parker, W. W., and E. R. Pianka. 1976. Ecological 

 observations on the leopard lizard (Crotophy- 



