Desert spiny lizard
Sceloporus magister Hallowell, 1854
Status not recordedlizards
The desert spiny lizard (Sceloporus magister) is a species in the family Phrynosomatidae, order Squamata. Recorded adults weigh 26.8 g to 35.2 g, reach 9.33 cm in length and live up to 5.9 years.
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Quick facts about the desert spiny lizard
- Weight
- 26.8 g – 35.2 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- 8.63 cm – 9.33 cmsrc for Length
- Lifespan
- 5.9 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Carnivoresrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 6 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- desert, shrublandsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 66.5 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 2 – 19src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 21 months – 3 yearssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1 – 3src for Litters or clutches a year
- Reproduction
- Eggssrc for Reproduction
- Active
- By day (diurnal)src for Active
- Conservation status
- Not recorded
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the desert spiny lizard?
What eats the desert spiny lizard?
Species recorded in published studies and collections.
Recorded predators of the desert spiny lizard
5 on record
- Greater roadrunner Geococcyx californianus4 sources
- Coachwhip Masticophis flagellum2 sources
- Glossy snake Arizona elegans2 sources
- Sidewinder Crotalus cerastes2 sources
- American kestrel Falco sparverius2 sources
Each pair is recorded by at least two independent datasets. A record shows the animal was seen or found to have eaten the other, including scavenged carcasses and young animals; it does not say how often. Compiled by Global Biotic Interactions (CC0 1.0).
References for these records
- Eichenwald, A. J., Fefferman, N. H., & Reed, J. M. (2024). Potential extinction cascades in a desert ecosystem: Linking food web interactions to community viability. Ecology and Evolution, 14, e10930. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.10930. Accessed at <https://github.com/aeiche01/MojaveFoodWeb/archive/
- https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/365117366
- https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/370996008
- https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/8372233
- Food Habits of the Glossy Snake, Arizona elegans, with Comparisons to the Diet of Sympatric Long-Nosed Snakes, Rhinocheilus lecontei. 1999. Journal of Herpetology 33(1): 87-92
- Feeding Ecology of Sidewinder Rattlesnakes, Crotalus cerastes (Viperidae). 2016. Herpetologica 72(4): 324-330
- https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/266112398
Where does the desert spiny lizard live?
Not recorded
Is the desert spiny lizard endangered?
No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.
How is the desert spiny lizard classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classReptilia
- orderSquamata
- familyPhrynosomatidae
- genusSceloporus
- SpeciesSceloporus magister Hallowell, 1854
Synonyms Sceloporus magister cephaloflavus, Sceloporus magister montserratensis, Sceloporus magister transversus, Sceloporus montserratensis
Other names and names in other languages (14)
- Barred spiny lizard [transversus]English
- Orange-headed spiny lizard [cephaloflavus]English
- Purple-backed spiny lizard [magister]English
- Twin-spotted spiny lizard [bimaculosus]English
- Yellow-backed spiny lizard [uniformis]English
- Wüsten-StachelleguanGerman
- Gelber Wüsten-StachelleguanGerman
- Gelbrücken-Wüstenstachelleguan [uniformis]German
- Cachora [bimaculosus]Spanish
- Lagartija del DesiertoSpanish
- Lagartija espinosa del desiertoSpanish
- Lagartija-escamosa de desiertoSpanish
- Roño de Suelo [uniformis]Spanish
- Lézard épineux du désertFrench
Relatives of the desert spiny lizard
Other species in the same genus Sceloporus.
Blue belly
Sceloporus occidentalis
Fence lizard
Sceloporus undulatus
Emerald swift
Sceloporus malachiticus
Mesquite lizard
Sceloporus grammicus
Blue spiny lizard
Sceloporus cyanogenys
Sagebrush lizard
Sceloporus graciosus
CompareDesert spiny lizard vs Blue bellyDesert spiny lizard vs Fence lizardDesert spiny lizard vs Emerald swiftDesert spiny lizard vs Mesquite lizard
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the desert spiny lizard?
An adult desert spiny lizard weighs 26.8 g – 35.2 g and measures 8.63 cm – 9.33 cm long, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
How long does the desert spiny lizard live?
The desert spiny lizard has a recorded lifespan of 5.9 years.
What kind of animal is the desert spiny lizard?
The desert spiny lizard (Sceloporus magister) belongs to the family Phrynosomatidae in the order Squamata.
What eats the desert spiny lizard?
Animals recorded preying on the desert spiny lizard include greater roadrunner, coachwhip, glossy snake and sidewinder. The records are compiled by Global Biotic Interactions from published studies; each pair is reported by at least two datasets.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-14. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Global Biotic Interactions (GloBI): interpreted data products · CC0 1.0 · 0.11
Poelen, J.H., Simons, J.D. & Mungall, C.J. (2014) Global Biotic Interactions: an open infrastructure to share and analyze species-interaction datasets. Ecological Informatics 24: 148–159. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoinf.2014.08.005. Data: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22691479, with each record's original reference. - ReptTraits: a comprehensive dataset of ecological traits in reptiles · CC BY 4.0 · v1-2
Oskyrko, O., Mi, C., Meiri, S. et al. (2024) ReptTraits: a comprehensive dataset of ecological traits in reptiles. Scientific Data 11: 243. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-024-03079-5. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.24572683.v4 - SquamBase 1.0 - a dataset of squamate species traits · CC0 1.0 · 1.0-dryad-v5
Meiri, S. (2024) SquamBase - a database of squamate (Reptilia: Squamata) traits. Global Ecology and Biogeography 33(4): e13812. https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.13812. Data: https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.76hdr7t3b
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Desert spiny lizard (Sceloporus magister). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/desert-spiny-lizard
“Desert spiny lizard (Sceloporus magister).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/desert-spiny-lizard.
@misc{desert_spiny_lizard_2026,
title = {Desert spiny lizard (Sceloporus magister)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/desert-spiny-lizard},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-14}
}