Sceloporus undulatus
| Eastern fence lizard | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Suborder: | Iguania |
| Family: | Iguanidae |
| Subfamily: | Phrynosomatinae |
| Genus: | Sceloporus |
| Species: | S. undulatus |
| Binomial name | |
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Sceloporus undulatus (Bosc & Daudin, 1801) |
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| The ranges of different S. undulatus subspecies are indicated by color. | |
| Synonyms | |
The eastern fence lizard (Sceloporus undulatus) is a medium-sized species of lizard found along forest edges, rock piles, and rotting logs or stumps in the eastern United States. It is sometimes referred to as the prairie lizard, fence swift, gray lizard, northern fence lizard or pine lizard. It is also referred to colloquially as the horn-billed lizard.
The generic name, Sceloporus, is derived from the Greek skelos/σκελος, meaning "leg", and the Latin porus, meaning "hole", referring to the enlarged femoral pores found in this genus of lizards. The specific name, undulatus, is Latin for "wave", referring to the transverse dark crossbars on the backs of these lizards.
Until 2002, 10 subspecies of S. undulatus were recognized:, but re-evaluation showed paraphyly between the subspecies. These were reclassified as four distinct evolutionary species (the three new species being S. consobrinus, S. tristichus, and S. cowlesi). The narrowed redefinition of S. undulatus has been suggested to still contain two subspecies divided by the Appalachian Mountains. None is currently formally recognized.
The following cladogram is based on Leache and Reeder, 2002:
S. undulatus
The eastern fence lizard is found in Florida Alabama, Louisiana, Arkansas, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky, Southern Illinois, Southern Indiana, Tennessee, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Missouri, Mississippi, Delaware, northern Florida, southern Wyoming, and southern New Jersey. There are isolated populations outside this range in southeastern New York.
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Wikipedia