Telling Alligator Lizards from Fence Lizards

Just as I am doing here, so did I boldly post a picture of a lizard in front of my last post, the June bloom day pics one. I just wanted to share it, in each case.

The bloomday post shows a baby lizard that found its way into our house. Another shot of him below. He walked right into the old yellow tumbler (one I use in the garden) and I got a good look at him, before letting him slither away into the undergrowth. "Bye-bye, baby fence lizard!" I crooned.

Obviously I was looking with my brain and not my eyes. A friendly comment from biobabbler put me on the right track: "Pretty sure it's an alligator lizard vs fence lizard..."

The eyes are one thing that is different. The alligator lizard, has those dramatic golden irises, whereas our friend the Coast Fence Lizard has warm brown eyes. For a lizard.
The eyes of the Southern Alligator Lizard are yellow or light. Its Northern kin, who I think are also found around the Bay Area, have darker eyes. My baby really had bright yellow eyes. (It wasn't just that yellow plastic tumbler.) So it was the Southern Alligator Lizard - Elgaria multicarinata. Also known as California Alligator Lizard, and found throughout the state.

As for other differences, you can see that the toes are much shorter on the alligator lizard. By comparison, look at the length of this fence lizard's hind toes!


The pattern and shape of the scales down the back is different too. Here's an alligator lizard that was in a wood pile in a clearing in our chaparral area.

Smoother more rectangular looking scale patterns. You can see he's growing a new tail!

The adult alligator lizards like the above photo are very easy to tell because they are simply much bigger. Not huge, but heftier and about twice as long maybe. We've only seen one or two here. They're pretty shy I think.

I had just assumed my young captive was a fence lizard because that's what lives in abundance around here.

I think they're Sceloporus occidentalis bocourtii - Coast Range Fence Lizard. The californiaherpes.com page on Coast Range Fence Lizard has some shots that could be in my photo files.



But then so does the page on the North Western Fence Lizard. I'm not sure how you tell them apart. Hm. It looks like their range doesn't overlap in our area at least.


Here's one in mid moult. I haven't before or since caught a lizard in mid molt. or moult in the UK.

I do see a variation in the fence lizards here. Some are a bit smoother and often darker, sleeker looking, but with the same basic shape as the other lizards. I had thought it was just another variation on a fence lizard. Now I think they might be Western Sagebrush lizards S.G. gracilis. A new theory to explore.

Here is a not too great shot I got of a light and dark one together; they were darting in and out of a deck that sits on a slab of concrete. The darker one also looks pregnant to me. Just because she has a very swollen looking middle.


And just as my last post was all flowers shots headed by one lizard, let this one be all lizard shots, followed by one flower:

Matilija poppy, Romneya coulteri. I forgot to take its picture for the bloom day post. The stalks are about eight feet tall, some of them!