Aztec Ruins National Monument - Reptiles

Reptile and amphibian inventories were conducted in 2001 and 2002 in several parks located in the Southern Colorado plateau, including Aztec Ruins National Monument. This research was funded by a grant from the NPS Inventory and Monitoring Program, and facilitated by the Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit at Northern Arizona University with the oversight of Dr. Rod Parnell and Ron Hiebert. The goals of the project included providing a baseline inventory, to identify park-specific species of special concern and to recommend an effective monitoring program that would allow park staff to assess the conditions of the species over time and note any significant changes in populations.

Reptile and amphibian species documented at Aztec Ruins during the 2001 and 2002 inventory surveys were: Woodhouse’s Toad Striped Chorus Frog Common Collared Lizard Sagebrush Lizard Eastern Fence Lizard Western Whiptail Plateau Striped Whiptail Striped Whipsnake Gopher Snake Western Terrestrial Garter Snake Western Rattlesnake

Aztec Ruins was expected to have a fairly diverse community of reptile and amphibian species for a park of its size, largely due to the diversity of habitats found here. Severe drought conditions likely affected the survey results. Many common amphibian species may not have been found due to dry conditions. Park boundaries have also recently expanded to include undisturbed areas north of the main irrigation ditch that may contain a number of snake species (e.g. Night Snake, Hognose Snake, Common Kingsnake, Glossy Snake) that have not yet been found. Some species, such as the Side-Blotched Lizard and the Tree Lizard that were originally thought to be present were not spotted. Their possible presence has been downgraded, since it is highly unlikely these conspicuous, diurnal species would have been missed by the surveyors.