page_title: Carrizo Plain
section_title: Fauna
hierarchical_section_title: Carrizo Plain / Fauna
caption_attribution_description: English: Tarantula near Soda Lake
context_page_description: The Carrizo Plain across, in southeastern San Luis Obispo County, California, about 100 miles (160 km) northwest of Los Angeles. It contains the 246,812-acre (99,881 ha) Carrizo Plain National Monument, and it is the largest single native grassland remaining in California. It includes Painted Rock in the Carrizo Plain Rock Art Discontiguous District, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 2012 it was further designated a National Historic Landmark due to its archeological value. The San Andreas Fault occurs along the eastern edge of the Carrizo Plain at the western base of the Temblor Range.
context_section_description: The Carrizo Plain is home to 13 species listed as endangered either by the state or federal government, the largest concentration of endangered species in California. Some of these species include the San Joaquin kit fox, the San Joaquin antelope squirrel, the blunt-nosed leopard lizard, the giant kangaroo rat, greater and lesser sandhill cranes, and the California condor.  The tule elk, pronghorn, black-tailed jackrabbit, western coyotes, and Le Conte's thrasher all also make their homes in the Carrizo Plain.  The hotter climate and ecology of Carrizo Plain allows the Le Conte's thrasher of the Southwestern United States to have a small disjunct range farther north than normal.
  San Joaquin kit fox – a small nocturnal subspecies of the kit fox that was formerly common throughout the San Joaquin Valley but has recently become endangered.
  Blunt-nosed leopard lizard – a small, 3–5 inch gray to brown lizard with large dark spots and cream-colored cross bands. It has a broad, triangular shaped head and is endemic to California. It inhabits the grasslands and alkali flats of the San Joaquin Valley and the surrounding foothills and valleys.
  Giant kangaroo rat – the largest of all kangaroo rats.  The giant kangaroo rat is also endemic to California and now only occupies about 2% of its original range, making it critically endangered.
  San Joaquin antelope squirrel – a light tan squirrel with a white belly and a white stripe down its back and sides.  Most of its habitat is used for agriculture, making the Carrizo Plain the habitat for most of the remaining population.
caption: California ebony tarantula (Aphonopelma eutylenum) near Soda Lake
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