Description: A moderately large (total length: 23 - 28 cm [9 - 11 in.]) lizard with a stocky body and a relatively large head. The body color is dark with contrasting light spots and bars, while the color of the tail and limbs is light with contrasting dark spots. This species can be recognized from other species of large lizards by the presence of a white or yellow neckband, bordered by black, that forms a distinct collar. The background color varies, and it can be green during the breeding season in the spring. Some other species of lizards in southern Nevada (e.g., the desert spiny lizard, Sceloporus magister) have dark marks on the neck, but none of these other species have the complete neck band seen in the collared lizard.
Diet: These lizards are voracious predators that can run on their hind legs to capture prey or escape other predators. They feed on insects, lizards, small rodents, berries, and leaves.
Habitat: Found in Mojave desert scrub, salt desert scrub, mesquite/catclaw,
desert riparian, blackbrush, sagebrush, and pinyon-juniper habitats in rocky
terrain, arroyos, hill slopes, and washes with sparse vegetative cover up to
an elevation of 2,300 m (7,500 ft).
Range: The species occurs throughout the Mojave, Great Basin, and other
southwestern deserts southward to California, Baja California, and
northwestern Mexico.
Comments: The taxonomy of this species is in flux, and some texts refer to
this species as Crotaphytus bicinctores, the Mojave black collared lizard.

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