July 2022 - 21

Plateau fence lizards can be spotted in southwestern Wyoming. They may be found on rock outcrops in Sweetwater and Carbon counties. (WGFD photo)
MISTAKEN IDENTITY
The events leading up to my day of
looking for prairie lizards starts with a
misunderstanding - best described as a lack
of good information - regarding a population
of lizards in the Laramie Mountains. The
high altitude-loving reptiles were long
believed to be plateau fence lizards related to
a population found in southwestern Wyoming
near Flaming Gorge Reservoir. The Laramie
Mountain lizards looked similar to the plateau
fence lizards, but one difference caught the
attention of researchers. Males in the Laramie
Mountain population sported red lips during
breeding season. That trait was not seen in
the southwestern Wyoming population, so in
2019 researchers set out to better understand
the DNA of these lizards.
Using the same loop technique with a
telescoping fishing rod and string, researchers
from Game and Fish captured 10 lizards from
the Laramie Mountain population.
" These particular lizards are best captured
with the lasso technique, " Estes-Zumpf said.
" They're bold, curious and stick to the rocks
they're on, so they aren't going to run off across
the prairie. Sometimes they'll even bite the
lasso as we try to loop it over them. They don't
really run away as much as other lizards. "
Game and Fish documented each capture
and logged individual information about each
lizard. Then they took a small tail clipping to
send to Adam Leaché's lab at the University of
Washington for DNA analysis. This lizard is
one of the many lizard species that can regrow
its tail, so the clipping doesn't permanently
mar it. After collecting data, the lizards are
release immediately.
Adult male prairie lizards from the Laramie Mountains exhibit red lips during the breeding season. (WGFD photo)
The results from the DNA were somewhat
surprising. These lizards, long thought to be
a type of plateau fence lizard, were revealed
instead to be prairie lizards like those found
near Torrington, even though both their
appearance and habitat were different from
the population there. The prairie lizards near
Torrington have various stripes down the
center and sides of their backs, but the prairie
lizards in the Laramie Mountains don't display
stripes or have faint stripes.
Wyoming Wildlife | 21

July 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of July 2022

July 2022 - 1
July 2022 - 2
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