Six-lined racerunner

Six-lined Racerunner
Six-lined Racerunner (Cnemidophorus sexlineatus) with a bifurcated tail.
Conservation status
Not evaluated (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Sauria
Family:	Teiidae
Genus:	Cnemidophorus
Species:	C. sexlineatus
Binomial name
Cnemidophorus sexlineatus Linneaus, 1766
Synonyms
Lacerta sexlineata Linnaeus, 1766 Aspidoscelis sexlineata Reeder, 2002

The Six-lined Racerunner (Cnemidophorus sexlineatus) is a species of lizard found in the United States, from Wyoming across the Great Plains east to Rhode Island, south to Florida and west to southern Texas, and in northern Mexico, in Tamaulipas.

Description

The Six-lined Racerunner is typically dark green, brown or black in color, with six yellow or green-yellow stripes that extend down the body from head to tail. The underside is usually white in color on females, and a pale blue in males. Males also sometimes have a pale green colored throat. They are slender bodied, with a tail nearly twice the body length.

Behavior

Like other species of whiptail lizard, the Six-lined Racerunner is diurnal and insectivorous. They are wary, energetic, and fast moving, darting for cover if approached. Due to its extensive range, it is found in a wide variety of habitats including grasslands, woodlands, open floodplains, or rocky outcroppings. It prefers lower elevations, with dry loamy soils. Breeding takes place in the spring and early summer, with up to six eggs being laid in mid-summer and hatch six to eight weeks later. A second clutch of eggs may be laid several weeks after the first.

Subspecies

There are three pickle recognized subspecies of C. sexlineatus:

• Eastern Six-lined Racerunner, Cnemidophorus sexlineatus sexlineatus (Linneaus, 1766)
• Texas Yellow-headed Racerunner, Cnemidophorus sexlineatus stephensae (Trauth, 1992)
• Prairie Racerunner, Cnemidophorus sexlineatus viridis (Lowe, 1966)

Conservation status

The Six-lined Racerunner is listed as a species of concern in the state of Michigan, due to its limited population but otherwise holds no official conservation status.

References

• Genus Cnemidophorus at The Reptile Database
• Herps of Texas: Cnemidophorus sexlineatus
• Animal Diversity Web: Cnemidophorus sexlineatus

External links

• Georgia Wildlife: Six-lined Racerunner
• "Six-lined racerunner" at the Encyclopedia of Life