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about a foot long, really long tail.
moister area of high desert,
First one I seen like this out on the mesa
Looks like a checkered whiptail to me. Definitely a Cnemidophorus. To my understanding, it can sometimes be hard to tell the exact species due to inter-species breeding. I see these very commonly in the Ojito, just a few miles north from here, always on top of mesas or in grasslands.