| Island night lizard | ||||||||||||||||
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| Xantusia riversiana |
The island night lizard (Xantusia riversiana) is a reptile native to three of the Channel Islands of California: San Nicolas Island, Santa Barbara Island and San Clemente Island. The San Clemente community is a recognized subspecies, the San Clemente Night Lizard, or Xantusia riversiana reticulata.
This lizard's preferred habitat is coastal scrub made up of dense boxthorn and cacti thickets. The lizard, interestingly, bears live young rather than laying eggs.
The island lizards are much larger than their cousins in the genus, the desert night lizards (Xantusia vigilis) of southern California.
The United States Fish and Wildlife Service classifies the island night lizard as a "threatened" species.