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Common side-blotched lizard

Uta stansburiana

Description:

The common side-blotched lizard is a species of small iguanid lizard.

Habitat:

Spotted at Joshua Tree National Park.

Notes:

From Wikipedia: Male side-blotched lizards exhibit distinct polymorphism in their throat colors, and can be divided into three different categories. Each of these three different morphs varies in how it competes for mates, and variation within a breeding population is maintained by a rock paper scissors mechanism of frequency-dependent sexual selection. A cycle is created where the least common morph of one breeding season often has the largest number of mature living offspring in the next year. This is because one morph does particularly well against another, but poorly in comparison to the third.

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Brian38
Spotted by
Brian38

Twentynine Palms, California, United States

Spotted on Nov 17, 2021
Submitted on Dec 5, 2021

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