Southern alligator lizard

A long, keeled-scale lizard that bites and holds on when grabbed, hunts black widow spiders, and can drop its tail and grow a new one.

Southern alligator lizard at a glance

Elgaria multicarinata AL-ih-gay-ter LIZ-erd; Elgaria multicarinata is el-GAIR-ee-uh mul-tee-kair-ih-NAH-tuh

Type
Reptile · lizard
Diet
Carnivore
Size
About 3 to 7 inches long from nose to the base of the tail, close to the length of a dollar bill, but with the tail included it can reach close to a foot, about as long as a school ruler.
Lifespan
Documented living 10 to 15 years in captivity; wild lifespans are less well studied.
Conservation
Least concern

Eats spiders, including black widows, insects, slugs, small lizards, small mammals and nestling birds occasionally

It hunts through leaf litter, logs, and rock piles, grabbing arthropods and small animals in its jaws. It is documented eating western black widow spiders, one of the few common predators willing to take one on.

Should you worry?

This lizard is not venomous and can't hurt a person seriously. It is, though, one of the bitier lizards you'll meet. Pick one up and it may clamp down hard and hang on, and it may also release waste as a startle defense. The rule is the same as for every lizard: look, don't grab, and it will leave you alone.

Turn over a rotting log at the edge of a redwood grove and you might get a fight instead of a lizard that flees. Grab a southern alligator lizard and it will often clamp its jaws down and hang on, and it may empty its bowels on your hand for good measure. It’s a long, low-slung lizard with a tail that can run twice the length of its body and scales ridged enough to earn the “alligator” in its name, and it would rather stay under that log than come out and be seen at all.

That toughness shows up in what it eats, too. Most animals give a black widow spider a wide detour. The southern alligator lizard is one of the few common predators that hunts them anyway, working through leaf litter and rock piles for spiders, slugs, and insects. If a bird or a snake gets hold of its tail instead of its body, the tail snaps off and keeps twitching on its own, buying the lizard a few seconds to disappear while a new, shorter tail slowly grows back in its place, held up by cartilage instead of bone.

None of that means it wants trouble with a person. It bites because it’s grabbed, not because it hunts people, and every account of it agrees on the same habit: staying hidden under wood and stone rather than basking out in the open like a fence lizard does. Roll a log back the way you found it, and let it get back to the dark.

Did you know?

  • Its keeled, overlapping scales and reinforced belly plates look enough like a tiny alligator's hide that they gave the lizard its common name.
  • NPS Lassen Volcanic notes it is fairly common in the park but much more reclusive than other lizards there, staying under rocks and logs rather than basking in the open.
  • Its tail can grow back after being dropped, but the new tail is held up by cartilage instead of bone and usually looks a little different from the original.

Common questions

Can a southern alligator lizard hurt you?

It has no venom, so it can't poison you, but it will bite hard and hold on if you pick it up. The safe move is to watch it and not handle it.

Does it really eat black widow spiders?

Yes, it is one of the lizards known to hunt and eat black widows, a spider most other animals avoid.

Why is it called an alligator lizard?

Its scales are ridged and its belly is reinforced with bony plates, giving its skin a tough, armored look like a tiny alligator's.

What happens if it loses its tail?

It can drop the tail to escape a predator and slowly grow a new one, though the new tail is held up by cartilage instead of bone.

Where it lives

Where we got this