Member species are small to medium-sized predators indigenous to the American southwest, Baja peninsula, and Mexico.

Including the tail, they can be as small as 7 in (18 cm) or as long as 14 in (36 cm), and are characterized by distinct bands of black or brown around the neck, to which their common names refer.

The following species and subspecies are recognized as being valid.

[1] Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses or a trinomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species or subspecies was originally described in a genus other than Crotaphytus.

In 1969, Oklahoma designated its first state reptile when it chose the collared lizard.