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Western Fence Lizard

Sceloporus occidentalis

Description:

Western fence lizards measure 5.7-8.9 cm (snout-vent length) and a total length of about 21 cm. They are brown to black in color (the brown may be sandy or greenish) and have black stripes on their back, but their most distinguishing characteristic is their bright blue belly. The ventral sides of the limbs are yellow. These lizards also have blue patches on their throats. This bright coloration is faint or absent in both females and juveniles. The scales of S. occidentalis are sharply keeled, and between the interparietal and rear of thighs, there are 35-57 scales. (Wikipedia)

Notes:

Spotted at Torrey Pines State Preserve. Sadly, I didn't get to see the blue belly, but you can see the yellow arm-pits in these pictures.

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4 Comments

Susi T-B
Susi T-B 10 years ago

Love the yellow underarms!

Hema  Shah
Hema Shah 11 years ago

Indeed Ava ,the yellow is delightful and amazing. I have spotted many fence lizards but never really seen the yellow so vividly. i have seen the blue belly of course!
PN introduced me to the world of these beauties . Look what I found recently. A Flying Lizard!
http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/169...

Ava T-B
Ava T-B 11 years ago

Thanks, Hema. I didn't know how lovely this guy was till I downloaded the picture and saw those cool, and identifying, yellow underarms.

Hema  Shah
Hema Shah 11 years ago

lovely Ava!!

Ava T-B
Spotted by
Ava T-B

California, USA

Spotted on Sep 21, 2012
Submitted on Nov 1, 2012

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