Canyon Earless Lizard Holbrookia elegans  Bocourt, 1874

Taxonomic Comments:

Lowe (1964 The Vertebrates of Arizona. University of Arizona Press, Tucson. vi + 270 pp.) treated Holbrookia maculata thermophila together with the Mexican endemic Holbrookia maculata elegans as a separate species. Using this taxonomy, the species Holbrookia elegans becomes part of the United States herpetofauna, and the subspecies in the United States is H. e. thermophila. Axtell (1998 Interpretive Atlas of Texas Lizards 18: 1-19) recognized this taxon as a distinct species and demonstrated its occurrence in the United States. Wilgenbusch and de Queiroz (2000 Systematic Biology 49(3): 592-612), using mtDNA, provided further evidence that this taxon is a distinct species. Collins & Taggart (2002 Standard Common and Current Scientific Names for North American Amphibians, Turtles, Reptiles, and Crocodilians. Fifth Edition) submitted for consideration the conclusions of Lowe (1964 op. cit.) and Wilgenbusch & de Queiroz (2000 op. cit.) to a lizard systematist group composed of Kevin de Queiroz, Bradford Hollingsworth, Jimmy A. McGuire, Richard R. Montanucci, Robert Powell, Tod W. Reeder, Jack W. Sites, Jr., Robert C. Stebbins, James M. Walker, John J. Wiens, and Kelly Zamudio, and they agreed.