Long-Tailed Brush Lizard

The long-tailed brush lizard is found in southeastern Southern California, the southern tip of Nevada and eastern and southeastern Arizona. It has a long, thin tail, up to twice the length of the body, and it has larger keeled scales down the middle of the back. It is grayish, light brown or beige, with dark irregular crossbars down the back. It can quickly change from a dark phase to a light phase, or vice versa, to match its habitat. They are tolerant of high heat and can live in areas with sparse vegetation. I took the photo below of this lizard in Painted Canyon in the Mecca Hills, relatively near the Salton Sea. It is an area of very little vegetation.

The quality of this picture is not good enough to see the enlarged scales on the back, but you can see the dark crossbars.