THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY

Reptilia    Squamata (part-other lizards)    Phrynosomatidae  

Island Fence Lizard
Sceloporus becki Van Denburgh, 1905
sel-oh-PORE-us — BEK-eye

SSAR 9th Edition Comments:
 Wiens and Reeder (1997, Herpetological Monographs 11: 1–101) suggested that Sceloporus occidentalis becki should be recognized as a species based on diagnosability and allopatry relative to other populations of S. occidentalis. Salerno et al. (2023, Journal of Biogeography 50: 116–129) confirmed monophyly of island populations using mtDNA and suggested S. becki constitutes a species. (de Queiroz, Kevin and Lauren M. Chan. 2025. Squamata (excluding snakes) – Lizards. Pages 23-37 in Kirsten E. Nicholson (Editor), Scientific and Standard English Names of Amphibians and Reptiles of North America North of Mexico, with Comments Regarding Confidence in Our Understanding, 9th Edition. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, Lawrence, Kansas. 87 pp.)

Range maps are based on curated specimens and provided gratis by CNAH.
(Created by Travis W. Taggart; Version: 2024.07.02.09.09.38)
Download GeoJSON polygon range file: - 0

Province/State Distribution:
United States: California

Taxonomic Etymology:
Named for a collector of the type series.
Sceloporus — rom Greek skelos (σκελός), “leg,” and poros (πόρος), “pore,” referring to the conspicuous femoral pores found on the legs of males.
becki — A patronym honoring Rollo Howard Beck (1870–1950), a California naturalist and field collector noted for his work with birds and reptiles, especially on islands.

First instance(s) of published English names:
No historic English names have been assigned to this taxon yet.

Taxon Links:

  
Catalog of American Amphibians and Reptiles
  
The Reptile Database
  
NatureServe
  
iNaturalist
  
GenBank
  
USGS - Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database

Selected References:
1905 Van Denburgh, John. The reptiles and amphibians of the islands of the Pacific Coast of North America from the Farallons to Cape San Lucas and the Revilla Gigedos. Proceedings of the California Academy of Science, Series 3 4(`):1-40
1992 Sites, Jack W., Jr., J. W. Archie, C. J. Cole, and O. Flores Villela. A review of phylogenetic hypotheses for lizards of the genus Sceloporus (Phrynosomatidae): Implications for ecological and evolutionary studies. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History (213):1-110
1993 Wiens, John J. Phylogenetic relationships of phrynosomatid lizards and monophyly of the Sceloporus group. Copeia 1993(2):287-299
2010 Wiens, John J., Caitlin A. Kuczynski, Saad Arif, and Tod W. Reeder. Phylogenetic relationships of phrynosomatid lizards based on nuclear and mitochondrial data, and a revised phylogeny for Sceloporus. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 54:150-161
2010 Leaché, Adam D. and Jack W. Sites. Chromosome evolution and diversification in North American Spiny Lizards (genus Sceloporus). Cytogenetic and Genome Research 127(2-4):166-191
2010 Leaché, Adam D. Species trees for spiny lizards (Genus Sceloporus): Identifying points of concordance and conflict between nuclear and mitochondrial data. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 2010(54):162-171
2013 Lambert, Shea M. and John J. Wiens. Evolution of viviparity: A phylogenetic test of the cold-climate hypothesis in Phrynosomatid lizards. Evolution 67(9):2614–2630

THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY — Accessed: Friday 05 December 2025 15:55 CT