Species:
Aspidoscelis xanthonota
Red-backed Whiptail
May 27, 2001
Alamo Canyon, Organ Pipe National Monument, Pima County, Arizona

This attractive whiptail has a very limited range in the United States -- just a few small areas in south-central Arizona -- so I was very happy to run across one. (I saw one more the next day.)
Until recently, this whiptail was considered a subspecies of the Canyon Spotted Whiptail.
This species was placed in the genus Cnemidophorus until recently, so most reference books still use that name.


