Description: 1 7/8 to 3 1/2 inches long from snout to vent. A small lizard with small keeled and pointed scales overlapping on the upper surfaces of the body and limbs. These scales are not as large as they are on other lizards of the genus Sceloporus. The gular fold is incomplete. The scales on the back of the thigh are mostly granular, not keeled (as they are on the Western Fence Lizard.) Color is gray or brown with dark blotches or irregular bands on the body and tail and distinct light and dark stripes along the sides and upper sides at the edge of the back. There is usually a bar of black on the shoulder and rusty coloring on the armpits and sometimes on the sides of the body and the neck. Unlike the Western Fence Lizard - Sceloporus occidentalis, there is normally no yellow coloring on the rear of the limbs. Males have a patch of blue color on each side of the belly and on the throat. The blue belly patches do not meet across the belly and do not meet the blue on the throat. Male postanal scales are enlarged, and the base of the tail is broader than on the female. The throat is light blue mottled with white spots. Sometimes the blue patch is reduced or even absent. Some males may develop bright orange breeding coloring. Females have little or no blue on the belly. When breeding, females may develop orange coloring on the sides and neck and yellow underneath. Young lizards have little or no blue on the belly.

Habitat: Lives in sagebrush and other types of shrublands such as manzanita and ceanothus, as well as open pine and Douglas Fir forests, mainly in the mountains (usually at higher elevations than the Western Fence Lizard but they coexist at lower elevations). In coastal redwood forests, lives along river bottoms. Prefers open areas with scattered low bushes and lots of sun.

Range: This subspecies ranges west of the Great Basin desert in California, south throughout the Sierra Nevada and Tehachapi mountains, the inner Coast Ranges and Diablo Range, and along the north coast and northern mountain ranges, continuing north into southern Oregon. Populations also occur in the Sutter Buttes and in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

Found in these States: CA | NV | OR

Diet: Sagebrush lizards eat a variety of insects, such as ants, beetles, grasshoppers, flies, hemipterans, and lepidopterans; they also eat arachnids.

Reproduction: Males defend territories both during and after the breeding season. Territorial defense is accomplished by posturing and physical combat. Male and female territories overlap, which enables the male lizards to court and mate with a few familiar females. Courtship involves head bob and shudder displays, and is physically demanding and time-consuming. Males are usually slightly larger than females. Sagebrush lizards mate in the spring, and have one or two clutches of two to ten eggs that are laid during late spring to midsummer. The eggs are laid about 1 inch deep in loose soil, usually at the base of a shrub. The eggs hatch in 45 to 75 days (approximately two months). Females in the northwestern range may produce two clutches. The young become sexually mature in the first (southern range) or second (northern range) year.

Status: Listed as Least Concern in view of the relatively large and stable extent of occurrence, area of occupancy, number of subpopulations, and population size. No major threats have been identified. The disjunct populations in southern California and Baja California warrant further taxonomic study and might need to be separately assessed.

Taxonomy: