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Southwestern fence lizard

Sceloporus cowlesi · Lizards · Reptiles

Southwestern fence lizard (Sceloporus cowlesi): Small lizard (to about 76 mm snout-vent), gray-brown to golden-brown with pointed, keeled, overlapping scales and two light stripes on the back. Males have two large bright-blue belly patches usually edged dark gray or black, and two blue blotches on the throat; belly patches faint or absent in females. This profile does not establish whether taking it is legal anywhere.

Check rules for a place and date

Certified rules currently represented in Hunt: coverage in development. This is coverage, not a legal answer.

Scientific name
Sceloporus cowlesi
Family
Phrynosomatidae
In North America
Native
Range
Southwestern United States: southern and eastern Arizona, New Mexico and western Texas (NatureServe also lists Navajo Nation) into northern Chihuahua; not in Canada.
Biology

How to identify it

Small lizard (to about 76 mm snout-vent), gray-brown to golden-brown with pointed, keeled, overlapping scales and two light stripes on the back. [1][2][3]

Males have two large bright-blue belly patches usually edged dark gray or black, and two blue blotches on the throat; belly patches faint or absent in females. [1][2][3]

Gravid females often have an orange or yellow tint on the back. [1][2][3]

Paired throat blotches separate it from the common sagebrush lizard; lack of side blotches separates it from the side-blotched lizard. [1][2][3]

Compared with the plateau lizard (striped plateau lizard): Nearly identical in appearance to the southwestern fence lizard but genetically distinct, and its boundary with cowlesi is poorly known; the striped plateau lizard has a plain belly (Reptiles of Arizona). [1][2][3]

Species it is confused with

Check these before deciding what you are looking at. If you are not certain what it is, do not shoot.

Field notes

  • Identification Confirm a southwestern fence lizard before you act. Compared with the plateau lizard (striped plateau lizard): Nearly identical in appearance to the southwestern fence lizard but genetically distinct, and its boundary with cowlesi is poorly known; the striped plateau lizard has a plain belly (Reptiles of Arizona).[1][2][3]
Field knowledge

Where it lives

Usually open, sunlit areas with basking sites such as rock piles and logs, from Chihuahuan desertscrub and grassland to woodland and montane conifer forest. [1][2][3]

Field knowledge

How it behaves

Diurnal; most active mid-morning and late afternoon in summer and all day in spring and fall. [1][2][3]

Sit-and-wait forager that takes the ground but climbs rocks, trees, fence posts and wood piles to bask. [1][2][3]

Eats termites, ants, beetles, grasshoppers, flies, spiders, snails and small lizards; females lay eggs from mid-May to mid-August (7-9 eggs in New Mexico). [1][2][3]

Regulatory handoff

Limited legal take

Legal take of this species exists only under narrow conditions — a quota, a draw, a permit, a small area, or animals released or held on private land — set by the authorities below. Nowhere else is a legal opportunity implied, and Hunt shows one only where a certified rule establishes it.

Where legal take is listed

Being listed is not an open season. Seasons, zones, licences, methods and limits decide whether this animal may be taken on a given day and place — check Hunt or the authority before you go. Listings read 2026-09-30.

Geospatial intelligence

Where it is found

Southwestern United States: southern and eastern Arizona, New Mexico and western Texas (NatureServe also lists Navajo Nation) into northern Chihuahua; not in Canada.

Biology

Sources

Every claim above is attributed to one of these published sources.

  1. NatureServe · reviewed 2026-09-30

    NatureServe

  2. reptilesofaz.org · reviewed 2026-09-30

    reptilesofaz.org

  3. USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station · reviewed 2026-09-30

    USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station