Sceloporus graciosus

Chan et al. (2013) found that the currently recognized subspecies of S. graciosus are incongruent with mitochondrial haplotype clades, which often exhibit relatively deep divergences between geographically proximate samples, and that S. graciosus is paraphyletic relative to S. arenicolus. Although these findings suggest that S. graciosus is in need of taxonomic revision, those authors did not propose any taxonomic changes (Crother 2017).

Sceloporus arenicolus formerly was included in this species (see discussion in Degenhardt et al. 1996). Collins (1991, 1997) and Collins and Taggart (2002) listed subspecies vandenburgianus of southern California and Baja California as a distinct species, but they did not provide any data to support this treatment. Wiens and Reeder (1997) also listed this lizard as a species but again did not specifically address taxonomic status. Crother et al. (2000) briefly commented on the proposal to treat vandenburgianus as a species but retained it as a subspecies of S. graciosus, as did Crother (2012).

This lizard ranges from Washington, Idaho, Montana, and North Dakota south to northern Baja California, northern Arizona, and northwestern New Mexico, and eastward into western Nebraska (Stebbins 2003). Elevational range extends from around 500 feet to about 10,500 feet (150-3,200 meters) (Stebbins 2003). The disjunct populations in southern California and the Sierra San Pedro Martir in Baja California were treated as a distinct species by Grismer (2002).

This species is represented by many hundreds of collection sites (e.g., see Nussbaum et al. 1983, Baxter and Stone 1985, Censky 1986, Degenhardt et al. 1996, Hammerson 1999).

No major threats have been identified. Locally, some populations are negatively affected by various kinds of habitat degradation.