Granite night lizard
The Granite night lizard, native to North America, is a small, flat reptile known for its distinctive brown and beige scaly skin. Typically measuring between two and three inches long, these lizards are nocturnal, remaining inactive during the day and emerging at night to feed primarily on insects, such as spiders and scorpions. Their name derives from their preferred habitat, where they often hide beneath large granite rocks in the dry, desert regions of the southwestern United States.
Granite night lizards possess unique adaptations, including long tails, long tongues, and splayed toes, allowing them to navigate tight spaces and avoid predators like birds and snakes. They have specialized sensory organs, including a "third eye" on the top of their heads, which help them gauge environmental conditions. Unlike many reptiles, these lizards are viviparous, giving birth to live young after a gestation period of about three months, typically producing litters of five to eight offspring. While they face predation from various carnivorous animals, Granite night lizards are not considered threatened and can live up to 20 years.
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Granite night lizard
Granite night lizards are native to North America. Like all night lizards, granite night lizards are nocturnal. That means they sleep during the day and are active at night. They are called granite night lizards because they are often found hiding under large granite rocks.
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Family: Xantusiidae
Genus: Xantusia
Species: Henshawi
Granite night lizards are flat lizards with scaly, brown, and beige skin. Throughout their lives, they slough, or shed, their skin many times. They are so flat they are often able to squeeze themselves into very tight cracks and crevices so they are not seen by predators such as snakes and birds. Since they are such flat lizards, they sometimes look as if they are lying on the ground with all of their limbs spread out. Granite night lizards have long tails, long tongues, and splayed, or separated, toes with rounded tips. Granite night lizards grow to be between two and three inches (four and 7 1/2 centimeters) long.
Granite night lizards spend much of their time hidden beneath granite rocks in the dry, desert parts of the southwestern United States. Granite night lizards are nocturnal. That means they sleep during the day and are active during the night. These insectivorous, or insect-eating, lizards come out of their hiding places at night to feed and mate. Granite night lizards prefer a diet of spiders and scoprions.
Granite night lizards use many sensory organs to help them understand their environment. They often stick out their tongues to receive tiny, chemical signals from the air. These signals tell the lizards what other animals are in the area. Granite night lizards use their round, flat "third eyes" to learn the time of day and the season of the year. These sensory organs are located on top of each granite night lizard's head. They process information directly to the brain.
Unlike many reptiles which lay eggs, granite night lizards are viviparous, which means they give birth to live young instead of laying eggs. Their mating season takes place between May and June. They have a gestation period (duration of pregnancy) of about three months. The females then give birth to a litter of between five to eight young. Birds of prey and carnivorous animals are the main predators of the granite night lizard. They are not considered a threatened species.
Granite night lizards may live up to 20 years.
Bibliography
Black, Robert. “Granite Night Lizard - Xantusia Henshawi.” California Herps, 2024, californiaherps.com/lizards/pages/x.henshawi.html. Accessed 26 Mar. 2024.
“Granite Night Lizard - Facts, Diet, Habitat & Pictures on Animalia.bio.” Animalia, 2024, animalia.bio/granite-night-lizard. Accessed 26 Mar. 2024.