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Western Fence Lizard
The western fence lizard (''Sceloporus occidentalis'') is a species of lizard native to Arizona, New Mexico, and California, as well as Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Northern Mexico. The species is widely found in its native range and is considered common, often being seen in yards, or as the name implies, on fences. As the ventral abdomen of an adult is characteristically blue, it is also known as the blue-belly. Two western fence lizards have been reported with duplicated or forked tails, presumably following an autotomy. Taxonomy Taxonomy for the western fence lizard has been under much debate. ''S. occidentalis'' belongs in the order Squamata (snakes and lizards) and the suborder Iguania. The family in which it belongs is still under scrutiny. The family Phrynosomatidae, along with seven other families, used to be included in the single family Iguanidae, until Frost and Etheridge's (1989) analysis of iguanian systematics suggested the family be divided. Most li ...
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Sacramento County, California
Sacramento County () is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 1,585,055. Its county seat is Sacramento, California, Sacramento, which has been the List of capitals in the United States, state capital of California since 1854. Sacramento County is the central county of the Sacramento metropolitan area, Greater Sacramento metropolitan area. The county covers about in the northern portion of the Central Valley (California), Central Valley, on into Gold Country. Sacramento County extends from the low delta lands between the Sacramento River and San Joaquin River, including Suisun Bay, north to about beyond the State Capitol and east into the foothills of the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada Mountains. The southernmost portion of Sacramento County has direct access to San Francisco Bay. Since 2010, statewide droughts in California have further strained Sacramento County's water security. ...
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Phrynosomatidae
The Phrynosomatidae are a diverse family of lizards, sometimes classified as a subfamily (Phrynosomatinae), found from Panama to the extreme south of Canada. Many members of the group are adapted to life in hot, sandy deserts, although the spiny lizards prefer rocky deserts or even relatively moist forest edges, and the short-horned lizard lives in prairie or sagebrush environments. The group includes both oviparous (egg-laying) and viviparous species, with the latter being more common in species living at high elevations. Oviparous and viviparous species of Phrynosomatidae lizards co-localize in certain areas of the United States, including New Mexico. The earliest fossil remains of this group are known from the Late Cretaceous of Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependenci ...
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Male Sceloporus Occidentalis Occidentalis
Male (symbol: ♂) is the sex of an organism that produces the gamete (sex cell) known as sperm, which fuses with the larger female gamete, or ovum, in the process of fertilisation. A male organism cannot reproduce sexually without access to at least one ovum from a female, but some organisms can reproduce both sexually and asexually. Most male mammals, including male humans, have a Y chromosome, which codes for the production of larger amounts of testosterone to develop male reproductive organs. In humans, the word ''male'' can also be used to refer to gender, in the social sense of gender role or gender identity. Overview The existence of separate sexes has evolved independently at different times and in different lineages, an example of convergent evolution. The repeated pattern is sexual reproduction in isogamous species with two or more mating types with gametes of identical form and behavior (but different at the molecular level) to anisogamous species with gametes o ...
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Subspecies
In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species have subspecies, but for those that do there must be at least two. Subspecies is abbreviated as subsp. or ssp. and the singular and plural forms are the same ("the subspecies is" or "the subspecies are"). In zoology, under the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, the subspecies is the only taxonomic rank below that of species that can receive a name. In botany and mycology, under the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants, other infraspecific name, infraspecific ranks, such as variety (botany), variety, may be named. In bacteriology and virology, under standard International Code of Nomenclature of Prokaryotes, bacterial nomenclature and virus clas ...
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Clade
In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach to taxonomy adopted by most biological fields. The common ancestor may be an individual, a population, or a species (extinct or Extant taxon, extant). Clades are nested, one in another, as each branch in turn splits into smaller branches. These splits reflect evolutionary history as populations diverged and evolved independently. Clades are termed ''monophyletic'' (Greek: "one clan") groups. Over the last few decades, the cladistic approach has revolutionized biological classification and revealed surprising evolutionary relationships among organisms. Increasingly, taxonomists try to avoid naming Taxon, taxa that are not clades; that is, taxa that are not Monophyly, monophyletic. Some of the relationships between organisms that the molecul ...
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Molecular Systematics
Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to determine the processes by which diversity among species has been achieved. The result of a molecular phylogenetic analysis is expressed in a phylogenetic tree. Molecular phylogenetics is one aspect of molecular systematics, a broader term that also includes the use of molecular data in taxonomy and biogeography. Molecular phylogenetics and molecular evolution correlate. Molecular evolution is the process of selective changes (mutations) at a molecular level (genes, proteins, etc.) throughout various branches in the tree of life (evolution). Molecular phylogenetics makes inferences of the evolutionary relationships that arise due to molecular evolution and results in the construction of a phylogenetic tree. History The theoretical framew ...
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Sceloporus Becki
''Sceloporus becki'', also known as the island fence lizard, is a species of lizard endemic to the Channel Islands of California. Taxonomy It was once considered a subspecies of the western fence lizard (''Sceloporus occidentalis''), but is now considered to be its own species. Many authorities have accepted research concluding that the island fence lizard (''Sceloporus occidentalis becki'') is its own unique species. However, there is some discrepancy between the current classification of the species and emerging findings, thus the taxonomy of the entire Sceloporus occidentalis species could be revised in the future. Description Despite it being a distinct subspecies, it shares a physically similar appearance as various mainland sub-species of the western fence lizard, a very common lizard in California. The island fence lizard is a relatively small species characterized by keeled and pointed dorsal scales of uniform size across the back, sides, and belly. The scales on the thi ...
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Species
A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. Other ways of defining species include their karyotype, DNA sequence, morphology (biology), morphology, behaviour, or ecological niche. In addition, palaeontologists use the concept of the chronospecies since fossil reproduction cannot be examined. The most recent rigorous estimate for the total number of species of eukaryotes is between 8 and 8.7 million. About 14% of these had been described by 2011. All species (except viruses) are given a binomial nomenclature, two-part name, a "binomen". The first part of a binomen is the name of a genus to which the species belongs. The second part is called the specific name (zoology), specific name or the specific ...
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Island Fence Lizard
An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been part of a continent. Oceanic islands can be formed from volcanic activity, grow into atolls from coral reefs, and form from sediment along shorelines, creating barrier islands. River islands can also form from sediment and debris in rivers. Artificial islands are those made by humans, including small rocky outcroppings built out of lagoons and large-scale land reclamation projects used for development. Islands are host to diverse plant and animal life. Oceanic islands have the sea as a natural barrier to the introduction of new species, causing the species that do reach the island to evolve in isolation. Continental islands share animal and plant life with the continent they split from. Depending on how long ago the continental island form ...
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Sceloporus Occidentalis Taylori
''Sceloporus occidentalis taylori'' is a subspecies of the western fence lizard, commonly called the Sierra fence lizard. Several subspecies of the western fence lizard, a species of phrynosomatid lizard, are found in the far western part of North America. The subspecific epithet, ''taylori'', is in honor of American herpetologist Edward Harrison Taylor.Beltz, Ellin. 2006. Scientific and Common Names of the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America - Explained. http://ebeltz.net/herps/biogappx.html. See also * Coast Range fence lizard * Island fence lizard An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ... * Northwestern fence lizard Notes Bibliography * Hobart M. Smith (1995) ''Handbook of Lizards: Lizards of the United States and of Canada'', Cornell University Press, 557 pag ...
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Sceloporus Occidentalis Occidentalis
''Sceloporus occidentalis occidentalis'' is a subspecies of the western fence lizard. The common name for this taxon is the northwestern fence lizard. This lizard occurs in the state of Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ... in the United States.C.M. Hogan, 2008 See also * Coast Range fence lizard * Island fence lizard Line notes References ITIS report: ''Sceloporus occidentalis occidentalis'' (1996)* C. Michael Hogan (2008) "Western fence lizard (''Sceloporus occidentalis'')", Globaltwitcher, ed. Nicklas Stromber External links * Sceloporus Taxa named by Spencer Fullerton Baird {{Phrynosomatidae-stub ...
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Sceloporus Occidentalis Longipes
''Sceloporus occidentalis longipes'' is a subspecies of the western fence lizard, commonly called the Great Basin fence lizard. Several subspecies of the western fence lizard, a species of phrynosomatid lizard, are found in the far western part of North America.C.M. Hogan, 2008 Gallery File:Sceloporus occidentalis longipes - Great Basin Fence Lizard.png, Adult, Malibu, California File:Joshua Tree National Park - Great Basin fence lizard - 01.JPG, Adult, Joshua Tree National Park File:Joshua Tree National Park - Great Basin fence lizard - 03.JPG, Adult, Joshua Tree National Park File:Joshua Tree National Park - Great Basin fence lizard - 04.JPG, Adult, Joshua Tree National Park File:Joshua Tree National Park - Great Basin fence lizard - 05.JPG, Adult, Joshua Tree National Park File:Joshua Tree National Park - Great Basin fence lizard - 06.JPG, Adult, Joshua Tree National Park Joshua Tree National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, US National Park located ...
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