Yellow paloverde—Cercidium microphyllum
Reptiles and Amphibians of the monument.
This checklist names reptiles and amphibians that have been seen, or that should occur, according to range maps and distribution records in important reference works, in the monument. Four of these species are found only in the Tucson Mountain Section; they are: desert iguana, desert horned lizard, western shovel-nosed snake, and sidewinder. An asterisk marks those species most commonly seen in the daytime.
The desert (D) habitat is the rather flat or gently rolling terrain below 3,200 feet in elevation, as seen in the vicinity of the visitor center and the Cactus Forest Drive, and in the north and west portions of the Tucson Mountain Section.
The foothills (F) habitat includes the area above 3,200 feet where the land becomes quite rocky and begins to ascend rather sharply on the Cactus Forest Drive and along Hohokam Road in the Tucson Mountain Section.
The mountain (M) habitat is restricted to the Rincon Mountains above an elevation of 6,500 feet where one finds tall trees.
| common name | scientific name | habitat | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AMPHIBIANS | toads and frogs | ||||
| Colorado River Toad | Bufo alvarius | D | F | ||
| Great Plains Toad | Bufo cognatus | D | |||
| Red-spotted Toad | Bufo punctatus | D | F | ||
| Woodhouse’s Toad | Bufo woodhousei | D | F | M | |
| Couch’s Spadefoot | Scaphiopus couchi | D | F | ||
| Western Spadefoot | Scaphiopus hammondi | D | F | M | |
| Canyon Treefrog | Hyla arenicolor | F | M | ||
| Leopard Frog | Rana pipiens | D | F | M | |
| REPTILES | turtles | ||||
| *Desert Tortoise | Gopherus agassizi | D | F | ||
| Western Box Turtle | Terrapene ornata | D | F | ||
| Sonora Mud Turtle | Kinosternon sonoriense | D | F | M | |
| Spiny Softshell | Trionyx ferox | D | |||
| lizards | |||||
| Banded Gecko | Coleonyx variegatus | D | F | ||
| Desert Iguana | Dipsosaurus dorsalis | D | |||
| Lesser Earless Lizard | Holbrookia maculata | D | F | ||
| Greater Earless Lizard | Holbrookia texana | D | F | ||
| *Zebra-tailed Lizard | Callisaurus draconoides | D | F | ||
| *Collared Lizard | Crotaphytus collaris | D | F | ||
| Leopard Lizard | Crotaphytus wislizenii | D | F | ||
| Short-horned Lizard | Phrynosoma douglassi | F | M | ||
| Desert Horned Lizard | Phrynosoma platyrhinos | D | |||
| *Regal Horned Lizard | Phrynosoma solare | D | F | ||
| *Side-blotched Lizard | Uta stansburiana | D | F | ||
| *Tree Lizard | Uta ornata | D | F | M | |
| *Desert Spiny Lizard | Sceloporus magister | D | F | ||
| Clark’s Spiny Lizard | Sceloporus clarki | D | F | M | |
| Eastern Fence Lizard | Sceloporus undulatus | F | M | ||
| *Western Whiptail | Cnemidophorus tigris | D | F | ||
| Spotted Whiptail | Cnemidophorus sacki | D | F | ||
| Arizona Alligator Lizard | Gerrhonotus kingi | M | |||
| *Great Plains Skink | Eumeces obsoletus | D | F | ||
| *Gila Monster | Heloderma suspectum | D | F | ||
| snakes | |||||
| Western Blind Snake | Leptotyphlops humilis | D | F | ||
| Arizona Coral Snake | Micruroides euryxanthus | D | F | M | |
| Regal Ringnecked Snake | Diadophis regalis | F | M | ||
| Western Hognose Snake | Heterodon nasicus | D | F | ||
| Spotted Leaf-nosed Snake | Phyllorhynchus decurtatus | D | F | ||
| Saddled Leaf-nosed Snake | Phyllorhynchus browni | D | F | ||
| Coachwhip | Masticophis flagellum | D | F | ||
| Sonora Whipsnake | Masticophis bilineatus | D | F | M | |
| Western Patch-nosed Snake | Salvadora hexalepis | D | F | ||
| Mountain Patch-nosed Snake | Salvadora grahamiae | M | |||
| Glossy Snake | Arizona elegans | D | F | ||
| Gopher Snake | Pituophis catenifer | D | F | M | |
| Compton Kingsnake | Lampropeltis getulus | D | F | ||
| Sonora Mountain Kingsnake | Lampropeltis pyromelana | M | |||
| Long-nosed Snake | Rhinocheilus lecontei | D | F | ||
| Black-necked Garter Snake | Thamnophis cyrtopsis | F | M | ||
| Mexican Garter Snake | Thamnophis eques | D | |||
| Checkered Garter Snake | Thamnophis marcianus | D | F | ||
| Western Ground Snake | Sonora semiannulata | D | F | ||
| Western Shovel-nosed Snake | Chionactis occipitalis | D | |||
| Banded Sand Snake | Chilomeniscus cinctus | D | F | ||
| Mexican Black-headed Snake | Tantilla atriceps | D | F | ||
| Plains Black-headed Snake | Tantilla nigriceps | D | F | ||
| Sonora Lyre Snake | Trimorphodon lambda | D | F | ||
| Night Snake | Hypsiglena torquata | D | F | M | |
| Western Diamondback Rattlesnake | Crotalus atrox | D | F | ||
| Sidewinder | Crotalus cerastes | D | |||
| Black-tailed Rattlesnake | Crotalus molossus | F | M | ||
| Tiger Rattlesnake | Crotalus tigris | F | |||
| Mohave Rattlesnake | Crotalus scutulatus | D | F | ||
| Arizona Black Rattlesnake | Crotalus viridis cerberus | F | M | ||
Birds of the monument
This checklist is based entirely on written records of observations of birds seen in the monument. Names are in accordance with A.O.U. Checklist of North American Birds, 5th edition, 1957. (See checklist of reptiles and amphibians for description of habitats.)
key to symbols: D desert habitat F foothill habitat M mountain habitat * species most often seen at lower elevations s summer resident w winter visitor p permanent resident t transient visitor