NATURAL HISTORY AND CURRENT TAXONOMY OF THE GENUS ANNIELLA

Victoria E Prado; Self; tori.e.prado@gmail.com; Sam Bacchini

The California legless lizard genus (Anniella) is endemic to California and Baja California. Anniella are primarily fossorial and forage for larval and adult invertebrates in loose soil and leaf litter. This genus is known to reach sexual maturity at approximately 120 millimeters snout-to-vent length and give birth to live young. Although Anniella inhabit various vegetation communities and soil types, this group has key habitat requirements: layer of plant litter, shrub or tree communities, and undisturbed soils. Each of these features provide a root system, shade, moisture retention, and/or soil aeriation. In 2013, Papenfuss and Parham divided the one accepted species, Anniella pulchra, into five species. California Department of Fish and Wildlife continues to manage Anniella as a single taxon, while acknowledging the proposed nomenclature. Papenfuss continues sampling efforts for Anniella and collaborates on building robust genetic tools to better determine Anniella phylogenetics and taxonomy. Anniella pulchra was listed as a Species of Special Concern by the California Department of Fish and Game in 2004 and were protected from take in 2013. Current conservation threats include loss of native habitats to exotic weeds (e.g. post-wildfire colonization), agriculture, and urbanization of suitable habitat.

Natural History of Lizards