Key to Lizards of Washington
- All scales smooth, flat, rounded posteriorly .....Western skink, Eumeces skiltonianus
- Scales either granular, keeled, or pointed .....2
- Longitudinal skin fold on each side of body .....3
- No longitudinal skin folds on sides .....4
- Dark stripes along edges of belly scales .....Northern alligator lizard, Elgaria coerulea
- Dark stripes on center of belly scales .....Southern alligator lizard, Elgaria multicarinata
- Spiny ridges or spines at rear of head .....Short-horned lizard, Phrynosoma douglassi
- No ridges or spines at rear of head .....5
- Gular fold with granules .....Side-blotched lizard, Uta stansburiana
- No gular fold with granules .....6
- Scales on rear of thigh granular (not overlapping); throat with mottled blue patches .....Sagebrush lizard, Sceloporus graciosus
- Scales on rear of thigh imbricated (overlappping); throat with solid blue patches .....Western fence lizard, Sceloporus occidentalis
Adapted by Dennis Paulson from key in Nussbaum,R. A., E. D. Brodie, Jr., and R. M. Storm. 1983. Amphibians & Reptiles of the Pacific Northwest. Univ. Press of Idaho, Moscow.





