Zebra-tailed lizards (Callisaurus draconoides) are medium-sized lizards that are widespread in the Sonoran and Mojave Deserts. The species name means “beautiful lizard resembling a dragon”. They range from 3 to 5 inches in body length with a long tail that doubles that figure. Habitat is open, generally sandy desert, especially creosote flats, where this species reaches its highest population density. Like most lizards they are mainly insectivores, but they do eat some plant matter, especially flower buds when available. The animal featured here is a male, distinguished by the blue belly which is lacking in females.

Note the blue belly on this male zebra-tailed lizard, which females do not have.

The tail is banded mainly on the sides and bottom, with the top patterned in camouflage like the rest of the lizard. When at rest, in hiding, or wishing to escape attention the lizard keeps its tail down on the ground, hiding the bands. They make it visible via tail waving if they wish to signal other lizards, or predators if they happen to be seen in the open.

When the lizard is at rest, the tail is much more subdued-looking and blends in better with the sandy substrates they favor.

Fast, active, and alert at all times, the most noticeable and interesting feature of these little dinosaurs is the boldly banded black-and-white tail, which they have a habit of waving about in a rather feline-like manner. Sometimes they coil it up over their backs much like a scorpion, and other times they twitch the tail sideways, back and forth like an annoyed cat. This tail waving communicates territorial defense to other males, and possibly sexual interest in females.

This is a nice, clear shot taken with my 24x zoom lens of a zebra-tail that wouldn’t let me get closer than about 12 feet/4 meters away. The large hind feet help the lizard run quickly in sandy soil.

Zebra-tailed lizards of both sexes also display this tail-waving behavior when confronted with potential predators, such as large camera-wielding primates. In those instances, it is theorized that the conspicuous tail twitching alerts the predator that the lizard has seen them, and will dart away at a very fast speed if they bother to try to catch it. And they are indeed fast, capable of running in short bursts at up to 7.2 meters (23 feet) per second. The lizards also carry their tail high overhead as they make these sprints, possibly to serve as a visual distraction so that the predator will attack the tail rather than the head. As with many lizards, the tail is detachable and can regenerate, so if the lizard has to sacrifice it to live another day then that is an acceptable tradeoff. Lifespan is 3 to 4 years. They are amusing and appealing co-inhabitants of my desert gardens.

Like an annoyed cat, this zebra-tailed lizard swished its tail from side to side. I am sure that if it had movable ears, those would have been pinned slightly backwards in feline fashion as well.

This lizard was signaling to me every time I approached a bit closer by waving its tail sideways that it was not going to just sit there and tolerate me. Indeed, every time I moved a little closer for a better photo, it ran away 20 to 50 feet, making me work relatively hard to capture images of this uncooperative little subject. It’s OK, I don’t begrudge him his privacy, sort of. Welcome to the Internet, Callisaurus! (Note: Some of these photos were originally posted on Facebook on Sept 30, 2014. I’ve added additional photos and text for this post, made in October 2018.)

I stalked this guy for almost 10 minutes and took 114 photos of it to get a few decent tail-waving shots. I saw a lot more corkscrew movements than I was actually able to capture, but here’s one at least….

These pugnacious small critters are quite charming and their demeanor really does remind me of cats when they are irritated with you. They are pretty, and their tail-wagging makes me smile when I see it. They also do push-ups in the sand to impress other males with their strength. Fierce little beasts, despite being only 5 inches long. 

When it comes to identification, zebra-tailed lizards are distinctive and unlikely to be confused with any other species. The strongly banded tail and the behavior with the curling and twitching is very distinctive, as no other US lizard species does this. (In fact it may not happen anywhere else either, but definitely among US lizards it’s unmistakable. Callisaurus draconoides inhabits most of southern Nevada, western Arizona, and southeastern California, so keep an eye out for them in flatter, sandier desert valley terrain if you live or visit here.

They are normally active at all times of the day, even when it is very hot. At night, they usually lightly bury themselves in the top layers of loose sand in wash channels or in between shrubs to hide from predators that might otherwise catch them while sleeping. They will also sometimes bury themselves on sunny days when they aren’t being active for whatever purpose. In fact it’s not uncommon for me to flush one out of hiding from the sand pocket it buried itself in as I walk by. The lizard must feel the vibration of my footsteps and/or hear my approach, and if I happen to come too close then they run away to escape my perceived threat. It can be a bit startling to see something dash away from what you thought was barren sand just as your foot comes down, but I imagine this is even scarier for the lizards.