NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Southern California Legless Lizard
Anniella stebbinsi Papenfuss & Parham, 2013
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
San Diegan Legless Lizard (Anniella stebbinsi)
jmaley · CC BY 4.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
Anniella stebbinsi, the Southern California or San Diegan legless lizard, is a small, slender lizard, and, as the name suggests, is legless. Not much is known about the lizard as a unique species, with most observations conducted while it was not recognised as separate from Anniella pulchra, the Californian legless lizard.
Wikipedia contributors, Anniella stebbinsi; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T13:13:49.214765+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Anniella stebbinsi Papenfuss & Parham, 2013
- Name authority
- Papenfuss & Parham, 2013
- Common name
- Southern California Legless Lizard
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Reptilia
- Order
- Squamata
- Family
- Anguidae
- Genus
- Anniella
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classReptilia Laurenti, 1768
- orderSquamata Oppel, 1811
- suborderAutarchoglossa
- familyAnguidae
- subfamilyAnniellinae
- genusAnniella
- speciesAnniella stebbinsi Papenfuss & Parham, 2013
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Anniella. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Bakersfield Legless LizardAnniella grinnelli Papenfuss & Parham, 2013 | AnguidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| California Legless LizardAnniella pulchra Gray, 1852 | AnguidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Temblor Legless LizardAnniella alexanderae Papenfuss & Parham, 2013 | AnguidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Southern Sierra Legless LizardAnniella campi Papenfuss & Parham, 2013 | AnguidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Baja California Legless LizardAnniella geronimensis Shaw, 1940 | AnguidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Anniella&species=stebbinsi Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:6752S. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.