The Giant Whiptail

Giant Whiptail, Aspidoscelis burti

Since Taylor (1938) described the Giant Spotted Whiptail, as Cnemidophorus burti Taylor 1938 it has undergone five significant name changes ad today is known as Aspidoscelis burti. Burger’s description was based on a specimen from Yank Springs, 6 miles southeast of Ruby, in Santa Cruz County, Arizona. The Giant Spotted Whiptail is the largest whiptail, slightly exceeding half of a meter in total length (510 mm). The species show considerable ontogenetic changes and while juveniles and young adults are striped, older adults lose the stripes are spotted. Whiptails, as well as other teiids, forage in the leaf litter – often sticking their head in a pile of leaves and shaking their head from side to side to find insect prey.

Taylor, Edward Harrison 1938. Notes on the herpetological fauna of the Mexican state of Sonora. Univ. Kansas Sci. Bull. 24 (19): 475-503.

Archive by Month

Discover more from

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading