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Sceloporus tristichus COPE, 1875

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Higher TaxaPhrynosomatidae, Sceloporinae, Iguania, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Plateau Fence Lizard 
SynonymSceloporus tristichus COPE 1875: 571
Sceloporus undulatus elongatus STEJNEGER 1890: 111
Sceloporus elongatus — BOULENGER 1897
Sceloporus graciosus elongatus — BURT 1933
Sceloporus elongatus — KNOWLTON & JANES 1934
Sceloporus undulatus tristichus — SMITH 1938: 15
Sceloporus undulatus tristichus — SMITH 1946: 231
Sceloporus undulatus erythrocheilus MASLIN 1956
Sceloporus undulatus erythrocheilus — MCCOY 1975
Sceloporus undulatus erythrocheilus — SMITH et al. 1991
Sceloporus undulatus (exerge tristichus) erythrocheilus — SMITH et al. 1992
Sceloporus undulatus (exerge tristichus) elongatus — SMITH et al. 1992
Sceloporus undulatus (exerge tristichus) tristichus — SMITH et al. 1992
Sceloporus undulatus tristichus — CROTHER 2000
Sceloporus undulatus elongatus — CROTHER 2000
Sceloporus undulatus erythrocheilus — CROTHER 2000
Sceloporus tristichus — LEACHE & REEDER 2002
Sceloporus undulatus tristichus — BELL et al. 2003
Sceloporus undulatus elongatus — BELL et al. 2003
Sceloporus undulatus erythrocheilus — BELL et al. 2003
Sceloporus tristichus — COLLINS & TAGGART 2009
Sceloporus tristichus — FLESCH et al. 2010
Sceloporus tristichus — WERNING 2012
Sceloporus tristichus — CROTHER et al. 2012 
DistributionUSA (Arizona,Utah, W Colorado, NW New Mexico, Nevada, Utah);

Type Locality: Taos, Taos Co., New Mexico.

elongatus: USA (Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, Utah [fide BURT 1933]). Type Locality: Moa Ave, Painted Desert, Arizona.

erythrocheilus: USA (Colorado). Type Locality: Nineteen mi E Model, Purgatoire River, Las Animas County, Colorado.  
Reproductionoviparous. 
TypesHolotype: USNM 8613, collected August 1874, by W. G. Shedd
Holotype: USNM 15858, collected 23 September 1889, by C. Hart Merriam and Vernon O. Bailey [elongatus]
Holotype USNM 137833, collected by T. P. Maslin and H. A. Fehlman, 17 September 1949 [erythrocheilus] 
DiagnosisAdditional details, e.g. a detailed description or comparisons (3738 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentSubspecies: Leaché and Cole (2007) presented evidence for hybridization between S. cowlesi and S. tristichus. S. (undulatus) tristichus is sympatric with occidentalis longipes in the Pine Valley Mountains of SW Utah (Cole, 1963; Smith and Chiszar, 1989).

Distribution: see Leache 2009: 549 for a map. 
EtymologyThe Greek treis, "three," and stichos, "a row of things," refer to the two narrow light dorsolateral lines and the wider middorsal stripe.

elongatus: The Latin elongatus refers to the elongate tail and legs, as described by Stejneger (1890).

erythrocheilus: The Greek erythros, "red," and cheilos, "lip," refer to the rust-reddish coloration of the lips and adjacent scales in breeding males. 
References
  • Bell, E.L.; Smith, H.M. & Chiszar, D. 2003. AN ANNOTATED LIST OF THE SPECIES-GROUP NAMES APPLIED TO THE LIZARD GENUS SCELOPORUS. Acta Zoologica Mexicana (n.s.) 90: 103-174 - get paper here
  • Boulenger, G.A. 1897. A revision of the lizards of the genus Sceloporus. Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1897: 474-522 - get paper here
  • Collins, J.T. and T. W. Taggart 2009. Standard Common and Current Scientific Names for North American Amphibians, Turtles, Reptiles, and Crocodilians, Sixth Edition. Center for North American Herpetology, 48 pp.
  • Cope, E.D. 1875. In Yarrow, H.C., Report upon the collections of batrachians and reptiles made in portions of Nevada, Utah, California, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona, during the years 871, 1872, 1873, and 1874, Chapter IV, L, pp. 509-584, In: Report upon geographical and geological explorations and surveys west of the the one hundredths meridian, ... Wheeler, Vol. 5, Zoology. Government Printing office, Washington D.C. - get paper here
  • Crother, B. I. (ed.) 2012. Standard Common and Current Scientific Names for North American Amphibians, Turtles, Reptiles, and Crocodilians, Seventh Edition. Herpetological Circular 39: 1-92
  • Dittmer, Drew E.; James Bradley Johnson, and Toby J. Hibbitts 2015. Sexual Dimorphism and Patch Size Variation in Three Lizard Species Suggests Potential for Sexual Confusion. Copeia 2015 (2): 310-321. - get paper here
  • FLESCH, AARON D.; DON E. SWANN, DALE S. TURNER, AND BRIAN F. POWELL 2010. HERPETOFAUNA OF THE RINCON MOUNTAINS, ARIZONA. Southwestern Naturalist 55(2):240–253 - get paper here
  • Hubbard, Kaylan A; Anna D Chalfoun, and Kenneth G Gerow 2016. The Relative Influence of Road Characteristics and Habitat on Adjacent Lizard Populations in Arid Shrublands. Journal of Herpetology 50 (1): 29-36. - get paper here
  • Jones, L.L. & Lovich, R.E. 2009. Lizards of the American Southwest. A photographic field guide. Rio Nuevo Publishers, Tucson, AZ, 568 pp. [review in Reptilia 86: 84] - get paper here
  • Knowlton, G., & Janes, M. 1934. Distributional and Food Habits Notes on Utah Lizards. Copeia, 1934(1), 10-14 - get paper here
  • Leaché, A. D. 2011. Multi-Locus estimates of population structure and migration in a fence lizard hybrid zone. PLoS One 6 (9):e25827 - get paper here
  • Leaché, A.D. 2009. SPECIES TREE DISCORDANCE TRACES TO PHYLOGEOGRAPHIC CLADE BOUNDARIES IN NORTH AMERICAN FENCE LIZARDS (SCELOPORUS). Systematic Biology 58(6): 547-559 - get paper here
  • Leaché, A.D. & Reeder, T.W. 2002. Molecular systematics of the Eastern Fence Lizard (Sceloporus undulatus): a comparision of parsimony, likelihood, and Bayesian approaches. Systematic Biology 51 (1): 44-68 - get paper here
  • Orr, M C; Parker, F D & Smith, G D; 2019. Sceloporus tristichus (Plateau Fence Lizard) and Sceloporus magister (Desert Spiny Lizard) Diet and behavior at bee nests. Herpetological Review 50 (2): 378 - get paper here
  • Pilliod, D., Jeffries, M., Arkle, R. and Olson, D. 2024. Climate Futures for Lizards and Snakes in Western North America May Result in New Species Management Issues. Ecol Evol, 14: e70379 - get paper here
  • Rivera, Julio A.; Cristina Romero-Diaz, J. Jaime Zúñiga-Vega & Emília P. Martins 2025. Habitat Occupancy of Sceloporus tristichus Lizards is Predicted by Microclimatic Conditions of the Forest Understory Herpetologica Mar 2025 Vol. 81, No. 1: 42-50 - get paper here
  • Smith, H. M.; Bell, E. L.;Applegarth, J. S.;Chiszar, D. 1992. Adaptive convergence in the lizard superspecies Sceloporus undulatus. Bull. Maryland Herp. Soc. 28: 123-149 - get paper here
  • Smith, Hobart M. 1938. Remarks on the status of the subspecies of Sceloporus undulatus, with descriptions of new species and subspecies of the Undulatus group. Occasional Papers of the Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan (387): 1-17 - get paper here
  • Smith, Hobart M. 1946. Handbook of Lizards: Lizards of the United States and of Canada. Comstock, Ithaca, NY, xxii + 557 pp.
  • Taylor-Young, M. 2011. The Guide to Colorado Reptiles and Amphibians. Fulcrum Publishing, Golden, Colorado, 169 pp.
  • Werning, H. 2018. Nordamerikanische Kleinleguane – Die Familie Phrynosomatidae. Reptilia 23 (131): 14-19
  • Werning, Heiko 2012. Der amerikanische Südwesten, ein Sehnsuchtsort auch für Reptilienfreunde. Draco 13 (50): 4-17 - get paper here
 
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