The Island Night Lizard (Xantusia riversiana) is a night lizard native to three of the Channel Islands of California: San Nicolas Island, Santa Barbara Island and San Clemente Island. The San Clemente community is a recognized subspecies, the San Clemente Night Lizard, or Xantusia riversiana reticulata. The Island Night Lizard was listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act in the United States since 1977; the IUCN lists the species as vulnerable. In 2006, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the administrating agency for the ESA, removed the San Clemente subspecies from the ESA. Better control of the munitions-sparked wildlifes may have been a reason. This lizard's preferred habitat is coastal scrub made up of dense boxthorn and cacti thickets. Like other night lizards, it bears live young rather than laying eggs. The island lizards are much larger than their cousins in the genus, the desert night lizards (Xantusia vigilis) of southern California.
Famous quotes containing the words island and/or night:
“The island dreams under the dawn
And great boughs drop tranquillity;
The peahens dance on a smooth lawn,
A parrot sways upon a tree,
Raging at his own image in the enamelled sea.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)
“A baby nurse is one that changes diapers and loves ‘em dearly. Get up at all hours of the night to give ‘em the bottle and change their pants. If the baby coughs or cries, you have to find out the need. I had my own room usually, but I slept in the same room with the baby. I would take full charge. It was twenty-four hours. I used to have one day a week off and I’d go home and see my own two little ones.”
—Ruth Lindstrom (c. 1892–?)