This week for Flora and Fauna Friday it’s an often overlooked cryptic critter, the Eastern Fence Lizard (Sceloporus undulatus).
The Eastern Fence Lizard is a less than common lizard here on Edisto Island but it is nonetheless present, to some degree, here and in our neighboring coastal communities. It is most common in the upstate and has a preference for drier forest habitats. They are primarily arboreal and fill a niche somewhere between the canopy patrolling Anole and the leaf litter prowling Skink. Like all our lizards, they are predatory and hunt after a wide variety of insects and arthropods. The Fence Lizard is a fairly typical lizard length of most of a hand span and also about the width of a finger. Their features are more exaggerated than our other lizards by way of a short snout, tall brow, a slight beard, broad shoulders, and squared off sides. The real thing that sets them apart is their scales. They’re our only lizard with rough scales, lending a spiny aesthetic to their silhouette. Their coloration is usually a cryptic layering of grays and browns, although matte black is also a possibility. Surprisingly though, a true beauty lies below. The armpits and throat of the male Eastern Fence Lizard become a brilliant iridescent azure at the onset of their spring breeding season. The deep blue scales are ringed with black and flash brilliantly during their athletic courtship display.
