Bay Nature magazineSpring 2020

Wildlife

Photo Gallery: Diablo Range Biodiversity

March 24, 2020
Sponsored by Save Mount Diablo and Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority

The Diablo Range is a biodiversity hotspot harboring numerous rare, endemic, or disjunct species. Here are some of the plants and animals you can find there. Read more about “the spine of California” in our spring 2020 feature article.

blunt nosed leopard lizard
Blunt-nosed leopard lizard, Gambelia sila endangered, San Joaquin Valley endemic. (Photo by Nicholas Hess, iNaturalist CC BY-NC 4.0)
Jepson’s milk vetch, Astragalus rattanii var. jepsonianus, North Coast disjunct, California endemic. (Photo by Ryan O’Dell, Bureau of Land Management)
bay checkerspot
Bay checkerspot, Euphydryas editha bayensis, endangered, California endemic. (Photo by Derek Neumann, Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority)
san benito onion
San Benito onion, Allium howellii var. sanbenitense, a rare southern Diablo Range endemic. (Photo by Amelia Ryan, National Parks Service)
kit fox
San Joaquin kit fox, Vulpes macrotis mutica, endangered, San Joaquin Valley endemic. (Photo by Scott Hein, courtesy Save Mount Diablo)
san benito evening primrose
San Benito evening primrose, Camissonia benitensis, a rare southern Diablo Range endemic. (Photo by Aaron Schusteff)

golden eagle
Golden eagle, Aquila chrysaetos. (Photo from Wikimedia Commons)
stillingia
Linear-leaved stillingia, Stillingia linearifolia, Mojave disjunct. (Photo by Matt Berger, CC-BY-NC 4.0)
tule elk
Tule elk, Cervus canadensis nannodes, California endemic. (Photo by Derek Neumann, Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority)
microhelia
Microhelia angelica, West Coast endemic. (Photo by Paul G. Johnson, iNaturalist CC BY-NC 4.0)
most beautiful jewelflower
Most beautiful jewelflower, Streptanthus albidus ssp. peramoenus, a rare California Coast Range endemic. (Photo by whi (user: goflowers), iNaturalist CC BY-NC 4.0)
About the Author

Eric Simons is a former digital editor at Bay Nature. He is author of The Secret Lives of Sports Fans and Darwin Slept Here, and is coauthor, with Tessa Hill, of At Every Depth: Our Growing Knowledge of the Changing Oceans.

Read This Next

The Spine of California

How a Plant and an Ant Help Each Other to Survive

Tarantulas Emerge to Wander the Landscape in the Autumn

Mount Diablo: A Place for Raptors