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Sceloporus occidentalis longipes
Dark lizard with yellow on the sides of its belly and around eyes.
Burnt Oak tree at Blue Sky Ecological Reserve
Hi Mandy, thank you for the ID and info! I hadn't spotted one with this much yellow before. I know they're quite variable though. Your little one is sooo adorable! :)
This guy looks just like the fence lizard I found in the wood pile a couple days ago! Today I actually caught a tiny one, and it sat on my hand and let me admire it. I posted photos of it on my Noah account today.
To me, this looks like species Sceloporus undulatus (eastern fence lizard), like mine were. I would have expected Sceloporus occidentalis (western fence lizard), since you found it in California, but it doesn't have the blue belly (maybe a juvenile?). You're right, the yellow is interesting... Maybe it's another species of Sceloporus less common in the US.
Nice photo!