Western fence lizard.
SURREY’S
When did the western fence lizard (Sceloporus occidentalis) first appear in British Columbia? By Dr. Gavin Hanke Curator of Vertebrate Zoology
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nfortunately, we have no idea. There is an unsubstantiated report on iNaturalist from April 29, 2019, at MacNeill Secondary School in Richmond, but it can’t be verified—neither the specimen nor a photograph of it are available. I also have heard several anecdotes from the Oliver area involving similar lizards, dating back almost 15 years—but were these fence lizards? Or were they elusive pygmy short-horned lizards (Phrynosoma douglasii), a species thought to be extirpated from our province?
Until this year, we had no solid evidence of a fence lizard in BC—no specimen, no photograph, no scrap of skin or DNA. However, on June 9, 2020, that all changed. Someone shared a photograph of a lizard sighted in the Cloverdale area of Surrey, along with a request to confirm its identity. The lizard in the photograph had a stubby tail—lost to a slightly slower predator—but it had the body shape and markings of a western fence lizard. The feature that clinched the identification: a pale yellow-orange tint
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