The head of the Coachella Valley fringe-toed lizard is perfectly shaped for diving head first into soft, windblown sands. If a predator threatens or surface temperatures become too great, the lizard heads underground and shimmies beneath the sand a few centimeters before coming to rest out of sight. But urban sprawl, agriculture, and off-road vehicle use are taking a toll on the fringe-toed lizard’s habitat, leaving it with less and less protective cover.

ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT PROFILE

PROTECTION STATUS: Threatened

YEAR PLACED ON LIST: 1980

CRITICAL HABITAT: Approximately 12,000 acres in Riverside, California designated in 1980

RECOVERY PLAN: 1985

RANGE: Restricted to the Coachella Valley in Riverside County, California; typically found at elevations from near sea level to about 1,600 feet

THREATS: Off-road vehicles, urban sprawl, loss of sand sources, agriculture, exotic plant invasions, and utility projects

POPULATION TREND: By the mid-1970s, more than 50 percent of the Coachella Valley fringe-toed lizard’s historical habitat had been lost; by the 1990s, approximately 75 percent of habitat had been lost. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service defined the population as declining in 1990, and though the California Department of Fish and Game deemed the population “stable or at least not substantially declining” in 1999, the long-term population trend, according to NatureServe, is one of substantial decline.