Northern Alligator Lizard

The Northern Alligator Lizard, Elgaria coerulea, is a medium-sized lizard that lives in the North American west cost. It occurs along the Pacific Coast and in the Rocky Mountains from southern British Columbia through Washington, northern Idaho and western Montana south through Oregon until the coastal range and the Sierra Nevada in central California.

These lizards can attain a length of about 10 inches long with nearly 4 inches of it being the snout. They have a distinct skin fold on their sides, separating the keeled scales on the back from the smooth ventral scales. They are brownish in color and often have dark blotches that sometimes blend together into bands. The belly is light gray. The eyes are dark.

The Northern Alligator Lizard feeds on a wide variety of small invertebrates such as insects, spiders, millipedes and snails. It prefers humid environment as opposed to the Southern Alligator lizard. The female is viviparous and births living young. Mating season lasts from April-May. In the late summer, between 3 and 8 young are born in a single litter. Sexual maturity is reached after about three years.