Colorado Desert fringe-toed lizard

{{Short description|Species of lizard}}

{{Speciesbox

| name = Colorado Desert fringe-toed lizard

| image = Colorado Desert Fringe-toed Lizard imported from iNaturalist photo 1526425 on 2 January 2022.jpg

| image_caption =

| status = NT

| status_system = IUCN3.1

| status_ref = {{cite iucn |author=Hammerson, G.A. |author2=Hollingsworth, B. |date=2007 |title=Uma notata |volume=2007 |page=e.T64163A12742789 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2007.RLTS.T64163A12742789.en |access-date=19 November 2021}}

| taxon = Uma notata

| authority = Baird, 1859

}}

The Colorado Desert fringe-toed lizard (Uma notata) is a species of medium-sized, diurnal lizard in the family Phrynosomatidae.{{cite web |title=Colorado Desert Fringe-toed Lizard - Uma notata |url=http://www.californiaherps.com/lizards/pages/u.notata.html |website=www.californiaherps.com |access-date=26 September 2021}} It is adapted to arid climates and is most commonly found in sand dunes within the Colorado Desert of the United States and Mexico.

It was originally described by Baird in 1859 as having a head that was two-fifths the size if the head and body, was a light pea-green spotted with darker green and with a white underside.{{cite journal |last1=Baird |first1=Spencer Fullerton |title=Description of new genera and species of North American lizards in the museum of the Smithsonian Institution |journal=Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia |date=1858 |volume=10 |pages=253–256 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/47535846 }}

It can be distinguished from the Mojave fringe-toed lizard and the Coachella Valley fringe-toed lizard by its orange/pinkish stripes on the sides of its underside, while the backs have much similar appearances.{{cite web |title=California species of Fringe-toed Lizards - Uma |url=http://www.californiaherps.com/identification/lizardsid/uma.id.html#UmaComparison |website=www.californiaherps.com |access-date=26 September 2021}}

The former subspecies Uma notata rufopunctata has had an unsettled taxonomy, and in 2016 was found to represent a hybrid between Uma notata and Uma cowlesi.{{Cite journal|last1=Gottscho|first1=Andrew D.|last2=Wood|first2=Dustin A.|last3=Vandergast|first3=Amy G.|last4=Lemos-Espinal|first4=Julio|last5=Gatesy|first5=John|last6=Reeder|first6=Tod W.|date=2017-01-01|title=Lineage diversification of fringe-toed lizards (Phrynosomatidae: Uma notata complex) in the Colorado Desert: Delimiting species in the presence of gene flow|journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution|language=en|volume=106|pages=103–117|doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2016.09.008|pmid=27640953 |issn=1055-7903|doi-access=free|bibcode=2017MolPE.106..103G }}