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Sceloporus occidentalis BAIRD & GIRARD, 1852

IUCN Red List - Sceloporus occidentalis - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaPhrynosomatidae, Sceloporinae; Iguania, Sauria (lizards) 
SubspeciesSceloporus occidentalis biseriatus HALLOWELL 1854: 93
Sceloporus occidentalis bocourtii BOULENGER 1885: 229
Sceloporus occidentalis longipes BAIRD 1858
Sceloporus occidentalis occidentalis BAIRD & GIRARD 1852
Sceloporus occidentalis taylori CAMP 1916 
Common NamesWestern Fence Lizard, Pacific blue-bellied lizard
biseriatus: San Joaquin Fence Lizard
bocourtii: Coast Range Fence Lizard
longipes: Great Basin Fence Lizard
occidentalis: Northwestern Fence Lizard
taylori: Sierra Fence Lizard 
SynonymSceloporus occidentalis BAIRD & GIRARD 1852
Sceloporus occidentalis — STEJNEGER 1893: 186
Sceloporus undulatus occidentalis — BURT 1933
Sceloporus occidentalis — STEBBINS 1985: 130
Sceloporus occidentalis — LINER 1994
Sceloporus occidentalis — WIENS et a. 2010

Sceloporus occidentalis biseriatus HALLOWELL 1854: 93
Sceloporus biseriatus var. A, azureus HALLOWELL, 1854: 93
Sceloporus occidentalis var. b, variegatus HALLOWELL 1854: 94
Sceloporus biseriatus nigro-ventris BOCOURT 1874: 199 (part.)
Sceloporus bi-seriatus — STEJNEGER 1893: 184
Sceloporus biseriatus —VAN DENBURGH 1895: 114
Sceloporus undulatus biseriatus — BURT 1933
Sceloporus occidentalis biseriatus — CROTHER 2000
Sceloporus occidentalis biseriatus — COLLINS & TAGGART 2009

Sceloporus occidentalis bocourtii BOULENGER 1885
Sceloporus occidentalis bocourtii — BELL 1954
Sceloporus occidentalis bocourtii — CROTHER 2000
Sceloporus occidentalis bocourtii — BELL et al. 2003
Sceloporus occidentalis bocourtii — COLLINS & TAGGART 2009

Sceloporus occidentalis longipes BAIRD 1858
Sceloporus smaragdinus COPE in YARROW 1875: 572 (not BOCOURT)
Sceloporus biseriatus nigro-ventris BOCOURT 1874: 199 (part.)
Sceloporus occidentalis longipes — BELL 1954
Sceloporus occidentalis longipes — CROTHER 2000
Sceloporus longipes — PHILIPPS 2003
Sceloporus occidentalis longipes — COLLINS & TAGGART 2009

Sceloporus occidentalis occidentalis BAIRD & GIRARD 1852
Sceloporus frontalis BAIRD & GIRARD 1852: 175
Sceloporus occidentalis occidentalis — CROTHER 2000
Sceloporus occidentalis occidentalis — COLLINS & TAGGART 2009

Sceloporus occidentalis taylori CAMP 1916: 65
Sceloporus occidentalis taylori — CROTHER 2000
Sceloporus occidentalis taylori — BELL et al. 2003
Sceloporus occidentalis taylori — COLLINS & TAGGART 2009 
DistributionUSA (Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, W Utah),
Mexico (N Baja California Norte, Isla de Cedros)

biseriatus: S Idaho, southwest through Nevada and W Utah into California and the San Pedro Mártir Range in Baja California. Type locality: Borders of El Paso Creek and Tejon Valley. Restricted to El Paso Creek by SMITH & TAYLOR 1950. (El Paso Creek is in Kern Co., about ten miles
northeast of Ft. Tejon).

bocourti: USA (California). Type Locality: Restricted by Bell (1954), through lectotype designation, to Santa Cruz, Santa
Cruz Co., California.

longipes: Type Locality: Fort Tejon, California [Kern County].

taylori: Type Locality: Half-way between Merced Lake and Sunrise Trail (Echo Creek Basin), elevation 7500 feet, Yosemite National Park, California.

Type locality: “California and probably Oregon”; restricted to “Benicia, Solano County, California” by GRINNEL & CAMP 1917 Map legend:
TDWG region - Region according to the TDWG standard, not a precise distribution map.

NOTE: TDWG regions are generated automatically from the text in the distribution field and this does not always work properly. We are working on it.
 
TypesSyntypes: USNM 2838, 2866, collected by Dr. J. S. Newberry during the U. S. Exploring Expedition in 1838-1842. No. 2838 is lost, and until 1996 No. 2866 was also thought to be lost (as implied by its absence in Cochran's 1961 list). Accordingly, Bell (1954) designated a neotype, MVZ 59874, collected by Robert C. Stebbins. After discovery of the existence of USNM 2866 (two syntypes), Bell et al. (2001) petitioned the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature for acceptance of the designated neotype as the name-bearer, rather than the rediscovered syntypes, as required by the Code (ICZN, 1999).

Lectotype: ANSP 8476 (Bell, 1954), collected by Dr. Heermann [biseriatus]

Lectotype: BMNH 1946.9.6.98 (formerly 1885.11.5Santa Cruz, California, designated by Bell (1954) [bocourti].

Lectotype: USNM 4358A, collected by John Xantus, designated by Bell (1954); SYNTYPE: UIMNH 40726 [longipes]

Syntypes; Four: USNM 8612, collected by Yarrow in 1872 [Sceloporus smaragdinus COPE in YARROW 1875]

Holotype: MVZ 5947, collected by Walter P. Taylor, 25 August 1915 [taylori] 
CommentSubspecies: S. o. becki has been elevated to full species.

Types: The Commission of Zoological Nomenclature has designated a neotype for Sceloporus occidentalis from the west coast ranges of North America. The neotype, originally designated in 1954, is a well preserved adult specimen of known provenance and replaces two missing syntypes which have recently been rediscovered but which are immature specimens and do not distinguish S.
occidentalis from closely related taxa (Opinion 2024, Bull. Zool. Nomencl.).

Sceloporus smaragdinus COPE in YARROW 1875: 572 is a junior primary homonym of S. smaragdinus Bocourt (1873).

Etymology (azureus): This adjective is Latinized from the French azur, "a blue color," and refers to the blue color of the dorsal scales of the syntypes.

Etymology (biseriatus): The name is an adjective from Latin bis-, "two," and series, "series," and refers to the two, or double, dorsolateral light lines.

Etymology (bocourti): The Latinized noun in the genitive singular honors Marie-Firmin Bocourt, a French herpetologist most widely known for his major contributions to the “Mission Scientifique au Mexique”.

Etymology (longipes): The Latin long, "long," and pes, "foot," refer to the elongate toes.

Etymology (occidentalis): The Latin words occidens, "the west," and -alis, "pertaining to," are the bases for the nominal species.

Etymology (taylori): The Latin genitive singular noun honors the collector, Walter P. Taylor, widely travelled in the early twentieth century in Mexico as well as the United States as a member of the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

S. o. longipes is the form sympatric with S. undulatus tristichus in the Pine Valley
Mountains of southwestern Utah (Cole, 1983; Smith and Chiszar, 1989). 
References
  • Anonymous 2003. OPINION 2024 (Case 3140) - Sceloporus occidentalis Baird & Girard, 1852 (Reptilia, Sauria): rediscovered syntypes replaced by a neotype. Bull. Zool. Nomenclature 60 (1):
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  • Bell E. L. Price A H. 1996. Sceloporus occidentalis. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (631) 1-17 - get paper here
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  • Lumbad, Anthony S.; Larisa K. Vredevoe, and Emily N. Taylor 2011. Season and Sex of Host Affect Intensities of Ectoparasites in Western Fence Lizards (Sceloporus occidentalis) on the Central Coast of California. Southwestern Naturalist 56 (3): 369-377. - get paper here
  • Miles, D.B.; Noecker, R.; Roosenburg, W.M. & White, M.M. 2002. Genetic relationships among populations of Sceloporus undulatus fail to support present subspecific designations. Herpetologica 58 (3): 277-292 - get paper here
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  • Scholnick, David A.; Nathan T. Gilpin, and Richard V. Manivanh 2012. Disruption to Recovery Metabolism in the Fence Lizard Sceloporus occidentalis Infected with the Malarial Parasite Plasmodium mexicanum Journal of Herpetology 46 (4): 643-647. - get paper here
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