Sand Lizards-The Northern Prairie Lizard

By Doug Backlund

The Nebraska Sandhills is one of the most unique places on the earth, the largest area of sand dunes in the Western Hemisphere. The sandhills country is an area with few roads or towns. A night satellite image shows this vast region of over 19,000 square miles as one with almost no lights. Geologically, the sandhills are young, probably having existed only about 12,000 years, laid down by winds that drifted the sand during and after the last glaciation. Few people live here. The handful of ranchers who do live in this country have learned how to manage the range without damaging the fragile grass cover that prevents the dunes from blowing again. Even so, blowouts and active sand dunes are abundant. The sandhills are not hospitable to people. Farming is nearly impossible. The sand does not hold water and dries rapidly. Even irrigation does not make farming profitable. Richard Manning wrote "A single center pivot can cost on the order of $40,000 and will pump water almost as fast as the sand will drain it. Almost."

Nevertheless, the sandhills country supports many plants and animals that have been able to adapt to this harsh environment. Some, such as blowout penstemon, are unique to the region. Others manage to survive in small patches of habitat that meet their requirements for life. For all the aridity, water can be plentiful in low areas where lakes and streams form at the base of the sand deposits. It is around these oases that life is especially diverse.

Although most of the sandhills country lies in Nebraska, the region extends north into South Dakota in southern Bennett County, southeastern Shannon County and southwestern Todd County. A look at any map quickly reveals the sandhills country, for there are almost no roads and few towns. A portion of the Lacreek National Wildlife Refuge is sandhills. Here one can wander for miles through sandy prairie and sand dunes. And here, one can find the northern prairie lizard, also known as the sand lizard to the local people.

These interesting little lizards can often be found around clumps of yucca plants, where they hide from predators and seek shade from the blazing summer sun. The northern prairie lizard is actually one of eight distinct subspecies of a wide-ranging species of lizard, the eastern fence lizard, which occurs over much of the southern and central United States. Although this species of lizard, the eastern fence lizard (Sceloporus undulatus) is found in many habitats through its wide range, the subspecies, Sceloporus undulatus garmani or northern prairie lizard is almost always found in open, sandy habitats. The northern prairie lizard ranges through much of the Great Plains from central Oklahoma to South Dakota west to eastern Colorado and southeastern Wyoming. It is locally abundant in the Nebraska Sandhills. In South Dakota, most reports of the northern prairie lizard are from sandhills habitats in Shannon, Todd and Bennett counties. A population of the northern prairie lizard occurs in northern Shannon County in an isolated area of sand dune habitat. At this latitude, the northern prairie lizard has reached the northern limit of its distribution.

The northern prairie lizard’s physical characteristics are somewhat descriptive of its habitat. The sharply keeled scales give the lizard a rough appearance and its rather drab black, brown and gray colors match that of the sand in which it lives. Males have patches of blue on the belly. Swift and voracious predators, northern prairie lizards will attack and eat almost any insect or spider encountered. Northern prairie lizards are also prey for other predators, including shrikes, some species of snakes, and small mammalian predators. Like most lizards, the northern prairie lizard’s tail is easily broken off. The lizard is capable of losing and regenerating its tail, a trait that can reduce predation on the species. Quite often the potential predator finds that the only reward for its effort is a squirming tail while the lizard makes its getaway. The tail will regenerate but the vertebrae are replaced by a tough, fibrous rod which supports the new tail.

Female northern prairie lizards are thought to lay two clutches of eggs each summer, but may have three clutches in the southern portions of the range. A clutch of eggs ranges from 5-9 eggs. Young hatch in about two months. The young are completely independent and receive no care from the adults. The lizards burrow deep into the sand to survive the winter but can be found active as early as March when warm weather returns. Three years is probably the maximum life span and most probably live only live one to two years.

Northern prairie lizards generally do well in captivity but require the care of a knowledgeable owner. Wild northern prairie lizards should be left in the wild unless there is a serious commitment to provide proper care. This requires the purchase of nutritional supplements, special lights and warming rocks. Most pet stores supply this equipment. People who take these lizards home must be prepared to purchase this equipment and provide food such as crickets and spiders year-round. Otherwise, the best practice is to return the animals to the location where they were captured. It is illegal to sell northern prairie lizards taken in South Dakota.

The future for the northern prairie lizard is bright. The sandhills habitat does not lend itself to development or agricultural use. Habitat is the critical component in the survival of any species and the sandhills country is one of the least impacted habitats in the country. Nor is that likely to change anytime soon. The sandhills are unforgiving and won’t tolerate much abuse. People who abuse this land are soon driven out by blowing, drifting sand, but the sand lizard will continue to thrive.

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