UPDATED: I'm tagging this as Urosaurus ornatus, but am not 100% confident of this identification. Alternatively, this could be a Sceloporus (see below).
After trolling the National Park Service's website for Arches National Park lizards, I limited the potential candidates to these five:
- Common sagebrush lizard (Sceloporus graciosus).
- Plateau lizard (Sceloporus tristichus).
- Tree lizard (Urosaurus ornatus).
- Side-blotched lizard (Uta stansburiana).
- (a neonate) Eastern collared lizard (Crotaphytus collaris).
Eastern collared lizard seems very unlikely. Though this could have been a neonate, this lizard's built/makeup doesn't quite fit. The side-blotched lizard, though quite abundant nearby, also doesn't quite fit this lizard.
The lizard was photographed at Arches National Park in Utah during June 2011. It was a hot, sunny day and the tiny lizard (which seemed to be a youngster) was very, very active scurrying about the rocky surface.
~ janson jones,
http://dusttracks.com
