Body length:
2 1/2 - 4"
Diet: Insects, spiders, other lizards, and plants
Zebratail lizards are fast, skittish lizards, often seen scampering across sandy
desert washes. Between short bursts of speed, they characteristically stop to
waggle the black and white banded tails for which they are named. Approach them,
and they dart off again.
Zebratails are creatures of the low,sandy desert, and currently are rare at Tonto National Monument. Closer to Roosevelt Lake, they may be very abundant in some areas. Historic records suggest that zebratails and kangaroo rats were once more common in the Monument as well. Perhaps this is because vegetation is more dense where cattle grazing no longer occurs, which could lead to replacement of animals that prefer open desert (such as zebratails and jackrabbits) with others that prefer greater cover (such as spiny lizards and pocket mice).
NPS
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Updated
May 8, 2005