NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Tiger Whiptail
Aspidoscelis tigris (Baird & Girard, 1852)
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.
Open encyclopedia reference
The western whiptail (Aspidoscelis tigris) is a species of lizard in the family Teiidae. The species is found throughout most of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. Most of its populations appear stable, and it is not listed as endangered in any of the states comprising its range. It lives in a wide variety of habitats, including deserts and semiarid shrubland, usually in areas with sparse vegetation; it also may be found in woodland, open dry forest, and riparian growth. It lives in burrows. Major differences between this species and the checkered whiptail (Aspidoscelis tesselatus) include the lack of enlarged scales anterior to the gular fold and the presence of enlarged postantebrachial scales. It was previously known as Cnemidophorus tigris, until phylogenetic analyses concluded that the genus Cnemidophorus was polyphyletic. Since it does not migrate, a number of forms have developed in different regions, several of which have been given subspecific names – for example the California whiptail, Aspidoscelis tigris munda.
Wikipedia contributors, Western whiptail; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T04:09:29.961922+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Aspidoscelis tigris (Baird & Girard, 1852)
- Name authority
- (Baird & Girard, 1852)
- Common name
- Tiger Whiptail
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Reptilia
- Order
- Squamata
- Family
- Teiidae
- Genus
- Aspidoscelis
- 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
- familyTeiidae
- genusAspidoscelis
- speciesAspidoscelis tigris (Baird & Girard, 1852)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Aspidoscelis. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Carmen Island WhiptailAspidoscelis carmenensis (Maslin & Secoy, 1986) | TeiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Gray Checkered WhiptailAspidoscelis dixoni (Scudday, 1973) | TeiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Aspidoscelis preopatae | TeiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Yucatan WhiptailAspidoscelis angusticeps (Cope, 1878) | TeiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Canyon Spotted WhiptailAspidoscelis burti (Taylor, 1938) | TeiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Cerralvo Island WhiptailAspidoscelis ceralbensis (Van Denburgh & Slevin, 1921) | TeiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Isla San José WhiptailAspidoscelis danheimae (Burt, 1929) | TeiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Blackbelly RacerunnerAspidoscelis deppii (Wiegmann, 1834) | TeiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Chihuahuan Spotted WhiptailAspidoscelis exsanguis (Lowe, 1956) | TeiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Mexican RacerunnerAspidoscelis guttatus (Wiegmann, 1834) | TeiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Aspidoscelis hyperythrus (Cope, 1863) | TeiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Baja California WhiptailAspidoscelis labialis (Stejneger, 1890) | TeiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
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=Aspidoscelis&species=tigris 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. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
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:HHJP. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.