Dead side-blotched lizard

{{Short description|Species of lizard}} {{Speciesbox | status = VU | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name=iucn>{{cite iucn |author=Frost, D.R. |author1link=Darrel Frost |year=2007 |title=''Uta lowei '' |volume=2007 |article-number=e.T64176A12743615 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2007.RLTS.T64176A12743615.en |access-date=17 May 2014}}</ref> | genus = Uta | species = lowei | authority = [[Larry Lee Grismer|L. Grismer]], 1994 | synonyms = }}

The '''dead side-blotched lizard''' ('''''Uta lowei''')'', also known [[Common name|commonly]] as the '''El Muerto side-blotched lizard''' and '''''la mancha lateral muerta''''' in Mexican Spanish, is a [[species]] of [[lizard]] in the [[subfamily]] [[Sceloporinae]] of the [[Family (taxonomy)|family]] [[Phrynosomatidae]]. The species is [[Endemism|endemic]] to [[Isla El Muerto]], an island in the [[Gulf of California]], Mexico.<ref name=iucn/><ref name=RDB>{{NRDB species|genus=Uta|species=lowei|accessdate=28 January 2015}}</ref>

==Etymology== The [[Specific name (zoology)|specific name]], ''lowei'', is in honor of American herpetologist [[Charles Herbert Lowe]].<ref>[[Bo Beolens|Beolens, Bo]]; [[Michael Watkins (zoologist)|Watkins, Michael]]; [[Michael Grayson|Grayson, Michael]] (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. {{ISBN|978-1-4214-0135-5}}. (''Uta lowei'', p. 161).</ref>

==Description== ''Uta lowei'' has strongly keeled [[dorsal scales]], and is light gray to off-white [[Anatomical terms of location|ventrally]]. Adult males have a [[Dorsum (anatomy)|dorsal]] pattern of offset paravertebral dark blotches, with a dense network of turquoise spots.<ref name=RDB/>

==Habitat== The preferred natural [[habitat]] of ''Uta lowei'' is rocky areas of the marine [[intertidal zone]], but it has also been found in rocky areas of inland [[desert]].<ref name=iucn/>

==Diet== ''Uta lowei'' [[Predation|preys]] predominately upon [[Isopoda|isopods]].<ref name=RDB/>

==Reproduction== ''Uta lowei'' is [[Oviparity|oviparous]].<ref name=RDB/>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Further reading== *{{cite journal |last1=Grismer |first1=L.L. |author1-link=Larry Lee Grismer |title=Three New Species of Intertidal Side-Blotched Lizards (Genus ''Uta'') from the Gulf of California, México |journal=Herpetologica |date=1994 |volume=50 |issue=4 |pages=451–474}} (''Uta lowei'', new species, p. 464). *{{cite journal |last1=Grismer |first1=L.L. |title=An Evolutionary Classification of Reptiles on Islands in the Gulf of California, México |journal=Herpetologica |date=1999 |volume=55 |issue=4 |pages=446–469}} *{{cite book |last1=Grismer |first1=L.L. |title=Amphibians and Reptiles of Baja California, Including Its Pacific Islands and the Islands in the Sea of Cortés |date=2002 |publisher=University of California Press |location=Berkeley and Los Angeles |isbn=978-0-520-92520-5}} 413 pp. *{{cite book |last1=Heimes |first1=P. |author1-link=species:Peter Heimes |title=Lizards of Mexico, Herpetofauna Mexicana Vol. 2, Part I. Iguanian Lizards |date=2022 |publisher=Edition Chimaira |location=Frankfurt am Main, Germany |isbn=978-3-89973-101-9}} 448 pp.

[[Category:Uta]] [[Category:Reptiles of Mexico]] [[Category:Reptiles described in 1994]] [[Category:Taxa named by Larry Lee Grismer]]