The
dunes sagebrush lizard,
Sceloporus arenicolus, (formerly known as the sand dune lizard and the dunes-sagebrush lizard,
Sceloporus graciosus arenicolus, a
subspecies of
sagebrush lizard), is an insectivorous spiny lizard
species which only occurs in the
shinnery oak sand dune systems of extreme southeast
New Mexico and only four counties in adjacent
Texas.
Sceloporus arenicolus has the second-smallest range of all lizards in the United States. Habitat destruction is their primary threat. Shinnery oak through much of the lizard's range was sprayed with herbicide to clear the land for cattle grazing, and the lizards are now extinct at these locations. The dune systems are also heavily interrupted by oil industry activities. These interruptions allow Mesquite to invade areas where shinnery oak (and dunes sagebrush lizards) were once dominant. While herbicide spraying has been outlawed in the dunes sagebrush lizard's New Mexico distribution, development for the oil industry has not ceased.