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State Symbols
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Official state symbols represent the cultural heritage
and natural treasures of each state or the entire United States |
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Oklahoma Symbols
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Oklahoma State Reptile
Mountain Boomer or Collared Lizard
(Crotaphytus collaris)
Adopted in 1969.
Collared Lizard (Mountain Boomer) Crotaphytus collaris. The Mountain Boomer, or Collard Lizard, is a pretty turquoise blue collar except for its head and neck, which is bright yellow with black stripes along its neck. It was adopted in 1969 as the Oklahoma State Reptile.
Key Characters: Large head; narrow neck; long, round tail; two black collars on the back of the neck.
Similar Species: A distinctive species not easily confused.
Subspecies: Eastern collared lizard, C. c. collaris.
Description: A large (up to 35 cm TL), green, blue-green, or straw yellow lizard with a light belly and an orange or yellow throat. Back usually covered with small light spots (except in juveniles, which have dark crossbands). Male much brighter than female.
Habitat: Bluffs, rock ledges, and rocky forest openings (glades).
Natural History: This lizard looks like it would be more at home in the deserts of Arizona than in Illinois. Male frequently sits on the top of the highest rock in its home range as if to advertise its presence. Mating takes place in the spring and eggs are laid in late June to July. Clutch size is normally 3-10 eggs and the hatchlings (ca. 9 cm TL) appear in August or September. Collared lizards feed on insects (especially grasshoppers) and small lizards. The main predators are snakes and hawks.
Taxonomic Hierarchy
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| Kingdom |
Animalia -- animals |
| Phylum |
Chordata -- chordates |
| Class |
Reptilia Laurenti, 1768 -- répteis, reptiles, Reptiles |
| Order |
Squamata Oppel, 1811 -- Amphisbaenians, amphisbènes, lézards, Lizards, serpents, Snakes |
| Suborder |
Iguania -- Iguanas, iguanes |
| Family |
Crotaphytidae -- Collared Lizards, Leopard Lizards |
| Genus |
Crotaphytus Holbrook, 1842 -- Collared Lizards |
| Species |
Crotaphytus collaris (Say in James, 1823) -- Collared Lizard, Eastern Collared Lizard, Lagartija-de collar común |
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State Symbols
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State symbols represent things that are special to a
particular state.
symbol \ˈsim-bəl\
noun
Etymology:
in sense 1, from Late Latin symbolum, from Late Greek symbolon, from Greek, token, sign; in
other senses from Latin symbolum token, sign, symbol, from Greek symbolon, literally, token
of identity verified by comparing its other half, from symballein to throw together,
compare, from syn- + ballein to throw — more at devil
Date: 15th century
1: Something that represents something else by association, resemblance, or
convention, especially a material object used to represent something invisible.
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