Answer 1:
Blunt-nosed leopard lizards live in arid areas of
central California. They can typically be found in
open, flat areas with few plants. Im not
exactly sure how long blunt-nosed leopard lizards
have been around, but we can make an educated
guess based on some facts. (1) Blunt-nosed
leopard lizards occur only in the San Joaquin
Valley, and are thought to have evolved there from
other desert leopard lizards. This makes them what
scientists call endemic species. (2) They live
in arid (desert) environments. (3) The San
Joaquin Valley for millions of years was under a
vast ocean. Only in the past 2 million years,
after being cut off from the ocean through
geologic events, did it dry out and become desert.
This tells us that the environment that they need
to survive, in the place where they evolved, only
came into being, at most, 2 million years ago.
Based on these three observations, we can conclude
that blunt-nosed leopard lizards have probably not
been around for more than 2 million years.
By the way, the taxonomic name of blunt
nosed leopard lizards was changed in 1993 from
Gambelia silus to Gambelia sila. This has to do
with some boring conventions of Latin grammar. It
may help you if you want to do more research on
this species to have the updated scientific name. Click Here to return to the search form.
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