Description: The eastern fence lizard can grow from 4.0 to 7.5 inches in total length (including tail). It is typically colored in shades of gray or brown, and has keeled scales, with a dark line running along the rear of the thigh. A female is usually gray and has a series of dark, wavy lines across her back. The belly is white with black flecks, with some pale blue on the throat and belly. The male is usually brown, and during the summer, has a more greenish-blue and black coloration on the sides of the belly and throat than the female. The young look like the females, but are darker and duller.
Habitat: It prefers open woodland and the edges of forests. Habitat varies geographically; various populations are primarily arboreal, terrestrial, or saxicolous. These lizards usually occur in sunny/open situations. They go underground or retreat to crevices when inactive. Eggs are laid in soil/underground.
Range: The eastern fence lizard is found in Alabama, Louisiana, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia, Virginia, Indiana, Kentucky, Southern Illinois, Southern Indiana, Tennessee, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Missouri, Mississippi, Delaware, northern Florida, southern Wyoming, northeastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey, and southeastern New York.
Diet: Fence lizards are ambush, sit-and-wait, predators. They are insectivores that typically eat arthropods such as ants and grasshoppers.
Reproduction: The female finds a suitable location to lay her eggs, usually in a rotting log or similarly damp area, and deposits them without any further parental care. Young females will only produce one clutch of three to sixteen eggs, while a large female can produce up to four. The eggs take approximately ten weeks to hatch and emerge near the end of summer. The young lizards grow quickly and are able to reproduce the next year. Unfavorable nesting conditions can cause females to retain their eggs longer than they would have otherwise. This phenomenon is referred to as egg retention. Egg retention in the eastern fence lizard produces heavier eggs with more advanced embryos and with higher posthatching survival rate, but does not influence phenotype. Greater reproductive energy allocated to first clutches is common at higher latitudes, whereas more energy is dedicated to later clutches in lower latitudes.
Status: Listed as Least Concern in view of the large and relatively stable extent of occurrence, area of occupancy, number of subpopulations, and population size. A split of this species into multiple species has been proposed, but further study is needed to clarify the geographic and taxonomic scope of the new species. Adopting such a split likely would not result in any species that are not Least Concern.
Disclaimer: ITIS taxonomy is based on the latest scientific consensus available, and is provided as a general reference source for interested parties. However, it is not a legal authority for statutory or regulatory purposes. While every effort has been made to provide the most reliable and up-to-date information available, ultimate legal requirements with respect to species are contained in provisions of treaties to which the United States is a party, wildlife statutes, regulations, and any applicable notices that have been published in the Federal Register. For further information on U.S. legal requirements with respect to protected taxa, please contact the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
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